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FROM MIDSHIPMAN 
TO REAR ADMIRAL 



BY 
REAR-ADMIRAL BRADLEY A. FISKE 

U. S. NAVY 

Former Aid for Operations of the Fleet. President of the U. S. Naval 

Institute, Gold Medalist of the U. S. Naval Institute, 

the Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania, and 

the Aero Club of America. 

Author of "Electricity in Theory and Practice," "War Time in 

Manila." "The Navy as a Fighting Machine," etc. 

Inventor of the Gun Director System, the Naval Telescope Sight, the 

Stadimeter, the Turret Range Finder, the Horizometer, 

the Torpedoplane, etc.. etc. etc. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH 
PHOTOGRAPHS 




NEW YORK 
THE CENTURY CO. 
1919 



Copyright, 1919, by 
The Centuby Co. 

Published, September, 1919 



UCl 18 i9l9 



©CI.A536215 



E/n 



7 



-5-2,(X 



C 



TO 

THE MEMORY OF 

REAR-ADMIRAL STEPHEN B. LUCE 

U. S. Navy 

WHO SAW THE LIGHT BEFORE OTHERS SAW IT, 
AND LED THE NAVIES TOWARD IT 



K 



K 
\ 



PEEFACE 

No other vocation gives a man such exciting and varied 
experiences as the navy. These experiences are caused 
mainly by the continual recurrence of danger in many 
forms; the frequent changes of locality, scene, climate 
and companions; the blending of the military with the 
nautical career; the combination of diplomatic and war- 
like responsibilities ; the handling of engines and mechan- 
isms of all kinds; the conduct of tactical and strategic 
operations ; and the continuous battle against the political 
influences that sap the strength of the nation. 

During the last forty-nine years navies have increased 
more than a hundredfold in power ; that is, in the amount 
of destructive power they can exert. This has been ac- 
complished by utilizing the mechanical power of steam, 
electricity, gunpowder, and explosives, and by inventing 
instruments and methods with which to direct the me- 
chanical power accurately at its objective. 

During all the time in which this increase in naval 
power was being accomplished I had the good fortune 
not only to be a close observer, but to contribute some 
essential parts. In fact, it has often been said to me 
that I did more to increase the power of navies than any 
other one man. 

I realize that I am exposing myself to the charge of 
insubordination by relating certain incidents that oc- 
curred while I was aid for operations and afterwards. 
But the Secretary's official statements about me before 
the House Naval Committee on April 3, 1916, and espe- 
cially his statement, "If the law had not . . . provided 
a chief of operations instead of an aid for operations, 



viii PREFACE 

I should have asked him (me) to retire, (as aid for oper- 
ations) because he (I) was not in harmony with the 
Department," added to the fact that after I had so re- 
tired and throughout the war, the handling of the navy- 
was satisfactory to the country, have caused an im- 
pression more or less widespread that I had been an 
obstruction to progress. Navy officers know that this is 
the exact reverse of the truth, and that I was ''not in 
harmony with the Department," because I continually 
urged certain measures of preparedness. They also 
laiow that these measures were afterwards adopted, and 
that it was because they were adopted that the navy was 
well prepared for the war and well handled during the 
war. 

I owe it to myself, to my family, and to the navy to state 
the exact facts of the case, and with such fullness as the 
small limits of a book permit. This I do. 

Bbadley a. Fiske. 

New York, August 1, 1919. 



CONTENTS 



I 

II 
III 

IV 



VI 
VII 

VIII 
IX 

X 

XI 
XII 

XIII 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 

XVIII 

XIX 

XX 

XXI 

XXII 

XXIII 

XXIV 
XXV 



PAGE 

Boyhood ^ 

The Naval Academy 8 

The Midshipman Cruise — Kaiakaua and the 

SANDwacii Islands 20 

Examination, Type-writer and Boat Detach- 
ing Apparatus 37 

N. Y. Navy-Yard, Colorado, Electric Log and 

Powhatan 46 

Lead-Pencil, Tallapoosa, Saratoga, Marriage 60 
Bureau of Ordnance and Franklin Insti- 
tute Elec. Exposition 78 

Cruising in the Atlanta 96 

The Vesuvius, My Range-Finder and Gun- 
Director Ill 

London, Paris and Le Formidable .... 133 
Spezzia, II Terribile, and Cap Brun . . . l-i5 
Cruising in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans 

AND THE Bering Sea 161 

Cruising in the San Francisco. War in 

Brazil 186 

Electric Turret-Turning Mechanism, Stad- 

IMETER AND OtHER INVENTIONS .... 198 

On the China Station 223 

The Battle of Manila 241 

After the Battle 257 

The Capture of Manila City 275 

Hong-Kong, Taku, Shanghai, and a Gale of 

Wind 283 

Outbreak of the Filipino War .... 293 

Adventures in a Monitor 306 

Adventures in the Yorktown 317 

Shore Duty, Torpedoes, Semaphore and Tel- 
escope-Mount 339 

Executive Officer of a Battle-ship . . . 348 
Turret Range-Finder, Four- Arm Semaphore 
and Prize Essay 358 

ix 



X 

CHAPTER 

XXVI 

XXVII 

XXVIII 

XXIX 

XXX 

XXXI 

XXXII 
XXXIII 

XXXIV 

XXXV 
XXXVI 

XXXVII 

XXXVIII 

XXXIX 

XL 

XLI 
XLII 

XLIII 
XLIV 

XLV 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Commanding the Minneapolis 379 

commajstding a monitor 396 

Turret Range-Finder, Horizometer, "Cour- 
age, AND Prudence" 406 

The Captain's Cruise — First Year . . . 417 
The Captain's Cruise — Second Year , . . 443 
The General Board, Aeronautics, and "Na- 
val Power" 476 

Commanding the Fifth Division .... 493 
Commanding the Third and the First Di- 
vision. End of Sea Career 507 

Aid for Operations, Aeronautics and Out- 
break OF War 526 

The Unpreparedness of the Navy . . . 546 
Testimony before Congress and Chief of 

Naval Operations 561 

War Game, the Administrative Plan, and 

My Resignation 572 

' ' The Mastery of the World, " " Naval Pre- 
paredness" AND My Reprimand .... 590 
My Second Testimony and the Secretary's 

Attack on Me 598 

Unpreparedness Letter, Letter op President, 

and Retirement 610 

War Close at Hand 620 

The United States Declares War Against 

Germany 632 

Aeronautics in War 642 

Rejection of the Torpedoplane Without 

Trial 660 

The Triumph of the Torpedoplane, Future 

Glory of America, Gold Medal . . . .677 
Index 689 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Bradley A. Fiske Frontispiece 

PAGE 

U. S. S. Saratoga 64 

Rear-Admiral S. B. Luce 104 

Rear-Admiral A. T. Mahan 1U8 

Gun practice on board a man-o '-war before the introduction 

of the telescope sight 176 

Battle of Manila 248 

U. S. S. Minneapolis 380 

U. S. S. Arkansas 400 

Admiral George Dewey 480 

U. S. S. Florida 520 

Lieutenant-Commander W. P. Cronan 556 

Captain Zachariah H. Madison 564 

Land Battleship 596 

A torpedo being launched from a torpedoplane .... 680 



FROM MIDSHIPMAN 
TO REAR-ADMIRAL 



FROM MIDSHIPMAN 
TO REAR-ADMIRAL 



CHAPTER I 

BOYHOOD 

I WAS born in Lyons, New York, on June 13, 1854. My 
father was tlie Rev. William Allen Fiske of the Epis- 
copal Church. He was a very handsome man, a fact 
which the ladies of his congregations never permitted him 
to forget. He was vain of his handsomeness, but I think 
that was the only fault his magnanimous soul possessed. 
The main object of his life was to do something for some 
one else, especially for some one who was poor or sick. 
He was much interested in my progress through the navy ; 
but his interest was not so much in my promotion or in 
my getting assignments to pleasant stations, as in my 
conduct and in the way in which I was regarded by my 
brother-officers. 

My mother was the daughter of Colonel John Bradley, 
who had resigned from the army when he was a captain, 
and who became later a colonel on the staff of the Gov- 
ernor of New York. She was a woman of great force of 
character, and she always had extraordinary influence 
over me. From the time when I began to go to school 
until she died the mainspring of all my ambitions was to 
please her. As a boy I took the greatest pleasure in her 
companionship, and we always read books together. 
During all the periods when I was separated from her I 
wrote to her every Sunday. At the end of May 1, 1898, 
after the Battle of Manila, I remembered, just as I was 
going to turn in, that it was Sunday, and I had not writ- 
ten to her, So I sat down at once and wrote to her. 

3 



4 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The first thing I remember clearly is being in a train 
that was going somewhere. I seem to have been going 
somewhere during a great part of my life ever since. 
On the first occasion that I remember I was going with 
my father and mother and little sister from Lyons to 
Cleveland, Ohio. My father had been called to the rec- 
torship of Grace Church, Cleveland. 

We lived in Cleveland from January, 1860, to January, 
1866, and I have always remembered Cleveland with the 
greatest pleasure. It was called the Forest City, and 
the people declared it the most beautiful city in the United 
States. This was before the prosperity of Cleveland 
set in, and covered the city with smoke and dirt. Euclid 
Avenue was especially beautiful. One side of the avenue 
was lined with magnificent residences, and the other with 
residences of the plainer kind. One side was called the 
''nabob side," and the other side was called the ''bob 
side." We lived on the bob side. 

During the first year that we were in Cleveland I 
went to a private school, which was a sort of a military 
school, in which the boys were organized into a com- 
pany, wore a uniform, and were called the Anderson 
Cadets. I was the smallest boy in the company, and 
carried a wooden gun. The other boys carried real guns. 
The head of the school, Mr. Stevenson, was an English- 
man, and so he tried to teach us foot-ball. I took part 
in one game. As I recollect it, my participation in 
the game lasted about a minute. I do not remember 
anything after this, until I was picked up from the 
ground and led off the field, crying. The ball had struck 
me in the face, and knocked me down so hard that my 
head struck the ground before any other part of me did. 

Mr. Stevenson's wife was a German, and was his as- 
sistant in his school. She was an excellent teacher so 
far as thoroughness and knowledge were concerned ; and 
though her methods were far from gentle, and all the 
boys were afraid of her, we had a good deal of respect 
for her. One evening when she and Mr. Stevenson were 



BOYHOOD 5 

calling on the minister and his wife, and we were sitting 
in my father's study, I tried to open a drawer in his desk 
by means of my little finger inserted in the keyhole, but 
gave up the attempt. Seeing this, Mrs. Stevenson ex- 
claimed : 

''Why did you pull out your finger without doing 
what you started to do?" 

"It hurt," I said. 

''What if it did hurt?" she exclaimed. ^'You 'II never 
amount to a^ny thing if you are afraid to do things that 
hurt." I think she was right. 

My mother's brother was a midshipman at the Naval 
Academy at Annapolis when we went to Cleveland. 
Shortly afterward he visited us, and I was so carried 
away with the splendor of his uniform and the stories 
he told me about his naval life that I determined to be 
a naval officer and to prepare myself for the Naval 
Academy. This was a fortunate thing for my parents, 
because it made it easy for them to get me to do anything, 
or not to do anything, as they might wish. If I did not 
learn my lessons well, they would say I would never get 
into the Naval Academy; if I showed a tendency to be 
babyish or lazy, they would say I would never make a 
good naval officer, etc. 

Not very long after my uncle 's visit I remember being 
in a carriage with my mother and another lady, and that 
they both began to cry after some man had looked into 
the carriage-window and told them something. I did not 
understand what it was at the time, but I found out later 
that what he told them was that Fort Sumter had been 
fired on. They knew, of course, that this meant war be- 
tween the North and the South. About a year after this 
I remember a telegram being handed to my mother from 
her father, which read, "Our brave John fell while nobly 
performing his duty. ' ' He was killed on board the U. S. 
Ship Richmond while passing the forts below New 
Orleans. He was aid to Captain Alden, and was stand- 
ing on the bridge with his hand to his cap in military 



6 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

salute, when he was struck with a bullet in the forehead. 
My mother was never quite the same afterward. 

My father was called to the rectorship of St. Paul's 
Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, in the latter part of 1865, and 
we went there in the early part of 1866. Cincinnati in 
those days was very much larger than Cleveland, but it 
was not nearly so pleasant a place for a boy to live in. 
It was too large for boys' games, because there were so 
many people in the streets ; playing ball and shinny was 
very difficult, and so was snowballing in the winter time. 

The last three years of my life in Cincinnati I spent 
at Hughes High School; I believe that during the last 
year Mr. Taft was at Woodward High School. These 
two high schools were great rivals, each one considering 
itself better than the other. 

I remember one day at dinner that my father said that 
a friend of his had made an invention. In reply to a 
question of mine, he explained what an invention was. 
It seemed to me a very splendid thing, and so after din- 
ner I sat by the window in the parlor and tried to invent 
something. But after trying for about half an hour, I 
gave up the attempt, because I came to the conclusion 
that everything had been invented already. 

Sometime after this, while I was supposed to be listen- 
ing to one of my father's sermons, but was really think- 
ing about Robinson Crusoe's difficulties in getting fresh 
water, an idea occurred to me with startling force, that 
if he had boiled some salt water and let the steam rise up 
under an inverted tin cone, which had a gutter turned up 
on the inside, around the bottom, the steam would have 
condensed on the tin and run down as water into the 
gutter, and Robinson Crusoe could have drawn it off 
later. I could not get rid of the idea for a long while ; I 
made pictures of it, and talked to people about it, but 
it finally faded out of my mind. Of course my idea was 
in substance the same as that of all modern methods of 
evaporating salt water. One thing that drove it out of 
my mind was another idea, which was for improving 



BOYHOOD 7 

sleeve-buttons. The sleeve-buttons I wore were so made 
that to put them into my cuffs, or take them out, was 
difficult; and I got up a sleeve-button which was in two 
pieces, one put in at the top of the buttonholes and the 
other at the bottom, and the two parts then clamped 
together. The so-called ''separable sleeve-button," 
which was the same thing, came out about ten years 
afterward, and had a great vogue during many years. 

During all the years in Cleveland and Cincinnati that 
followed my uncle 's visit I kept the Naval Academy con- 
stantly before my eyes. But as the time approached at 
which, if at all, I could get an appointment, the difficul- 
ties of securing an appointment became gradually so 
clear as to indicate that I probably could not get one. 
The only two alternatives I considered were the ministry 
and the law, with a slight inclination toward the law, but 
a feeling that in the end I would probably go into the 
ministry. However, through his friend, the Hon. George 
H. Pendleton, who was a vestryman in his church, my 
father secured from the Hon. P. W. Strader a promise 
that, in case he got elected, I should receive the appoint- 
ment. Strader was declared elected, but the election 
was disputed. When the time came to make the appoint- 
ment, the election had not been decided, but Strader gave 
me the appointment, nevertheless. So I went to An- 
napolis with my mother, and presented myself for ex- 
amination. 

I had little doubt that I could pass the mental exam- 
ination, but I did not believe that I could pass the physi- 
cal, and neither did my mother. I had always been a 
delicate child, and I had tried to increase my strength 
by gjmmasium exercises. I overexerted myself at these, 
and the family doctor, who afterward became the highly 
distinguished Dr. Barthalow, told my parents that I must 
stop them, and that I had already injured my heart. 
The navy doctors examined me carefully, however, and to 
my intense joy passed me. 



CHAPTER II 

THE NAVAL ACADEMY 

I TOOK the oath of allegiance to the United States and 
entered the Naval Academy as a cadet midshipman 
in the afternoon of September 24, 1870. That night I 
slept in my room on the fourth floor of what was called 
the ''New Building." I had always been a timid boy, 
especially in the dark, and I remember the feeling of 
gratification that I had when, after turning out the light in 
my room, I saw a very pleasant illumination coming in 
from the hall outside through the glass transom over the 
door. 

One hundred and sixteen boys entered in the class, and 
these boys ceased to be boys immediately after they en- 
tered. It was part of the discipline of the Naval Acad- 
emy to impress the cadet midshipmen with the idea that 
they were no longer irresponsible boys, but had become 
responsible men, and officers of the Government. Each 
one was called ''Mister," and was encouraged to feel that 
it devolved upon him to be honorable, straightforward, 
and courageous. Lying was considered the worse sin, 
with the possible exception of cowardice. The discipline 
was exceedingly strict, being identical with that of West 
Point except in so far as it was modified by requirements 
that were purely naval ; but it was just ; and, in a meas- 
ure, kindly. 

Each cadet midshipman lived with a room-mate in a 
comfortable room, which they were required to keep in 
order, though not to scrub. The two occupants of a room 
took turns in being superintendent of the room and hav- 
ing the responsibility for its cleanliness. Each man 
made his own bed, but the superintendent of the room 
swept out the room. 



THE NAVAL ACADEMY 9 

The members of the class were divided into ''sections," 
about twelve in a section. During the first month they 
were arranged alphabetically, but after that they were 
arranged for each study according to their proficiency in 
that study the month before. At the end of the first 
month the standings of all the cadet midshipmen in the 
various studies were published on the bulletin-board. As 
no member of the fourth class (usually called the "plebe" 
class) really believed that he would be able to pass the 
examinations, but realized that he might, the intense in- 
terest with which we flocked to the bulletin-board, to see 
how we stood may easily be imagined. The first arrange- 
ment I looked at was that under grammar. I went up 
and down the list of the class, but to my horror, I could 
not find my name. Finally, when I was almost in despair, 
I found my name actually at the top ! My relief was in- 
expressible, especially as I saw my name near the top 
of all the lists that showed the relative standings in the 
other studies. 

Shortly after this, while we were at supper formation 
(that is, in the formation in which all midshipmen were 
placed and mustered before supper), there was a little 
crowding as we turned ''left face" into line. The mid- 
shipman on my right stepped on my foot. I said, "Get 
off my foot," and he said, "You 're a liar." This was 
an insult of so grave a character that I at once challenged 
him to fight. The challenge was accepted, and on the 
following day we selected our seconds and agreed upon a 
referee; in the evening we had a fight. He was some- 
what bigger and heavier than I was; so that after the 
fight had been going on about twenty minutes, I was de- 
lighted when the superintendent of the floor broke into 
the room and stopped the fight. This fight was the be- 
ginning of a long friendship between Dorn and me, which 
has lasted to the present day. I was his "best man" 
when he w^as married, and he has given me many proofs 
during many years of his friendship and affection. 
In those days hazing of plebes was an institution liber- 



10 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

ally patronized. The hazing was done by the third class, 
the class immediately above; but it had the approval of 
the entire academy and the not very great opposition of 
the officers, although the latter tried to prevent acts of a 
cruel or insulting character. As Jim Fiske's name was 
known by everybody in the United States at that time, I 
was immediately labeled ''Jim Fiske." The name has 
stuck to me among my classmates and naval friends ever 
since. The different members of the class were hazed in 
different ways. For some reason I got off very easily; 
all I had to do was to strike an attitude and assume an 
expression of face supposed to be that of an idiot. 
"Whenever a third classman met me he would say, ''Jim 
Fiske, strike your attitude," and I would immediately 
personify an idiot as best I could. My room-mate was 
hazed a good deal; for some reason the third classmen 
liked to haze him. Various indignities of a minor kind 
were heaped upon him. For instance, every day when he 
went out of the mess-hall at half past one, after dinner, 
he was met by a third classman named Upshur, who would 
say to him: 

''Good afternoon, Mr. Craig." 

Craig would say: 

"Good afternoon, sir." 

"How do you feel, Mr. Craig?" 

"Pretty well, thank you." 

"Why, Mr. Craig, you don't look at all well. You had 
better go to bed. You go upstairs and undress and go 
to bed, and I '11 be up there in a few minutes and count 
your pulse." 

So Craig would have to go to bed and get entirely un- 
dressed. In a few minutes Upshur would come in and 
feel his pulse. Then he would say: 

"You seem to be a good deal better now, Mr. Craig; 
you may get up." 

The hazing kept up for two or three months, until 
finally, one Sunday afternoon, something precipitated a 
fight between the two classes. I do not remember what 



THE NAVAL ACADEMY 11 

the circumstance was, but it happened on the plebe-class 
floor. Hurry-up calls were sent out for reinforcements, 
and in a few minutes the greater part of both classes were 
engaged in a rough-and-tumble fight. As the plebes were 
more than twice the third class in number, and only a 
year younger in average age, the result was a complete 
triumph for the plebes. The third class acknowledged 
this straightforwardly, and agreed to stop the hazing 
at once. This elevated tremendously our standing — a 
standing which we had achieved by force of arms. But 
of course we were still plebes, and had to say ''sir" to 
all the upper classmen, to show due humility toward them 
in all ways, and to realize that, despite our valor on the 
field of battle, we were really a despicable lot. 

The semiannual examination resulted in "bilging" 
more than half the class. The unfortunates had to re- 
sign and go home, leaving only about fifty in the class. 

We were very busily occupied indeed. We were 
aroused by the reveille of drum and fife at half past six 
in the winter months, and at six at other times. From 
then until ten o'clock at night we did all things in obe- 
dience to bugle-calls at stated times. Recitations, study 
hours, meals, and drills followed one another in precise 
succession, the only leisure in the day-time being from 
about five until half past six, between afternoon drill 
and supper-time. The evenings were spent in study until 
half past nine. From half past nine until ten the mem- 
bers of each class were free to roam about the corridors 
of their own floor; but at ten o'clock all lights had to be 
out, and every man must be in bed. Then the superin- 
tendent of the floor would go to each room to see if both 
occupants were in bed, in which case he would say, "Good 
night." The occupants of each bed would say, "Good 
night, sir," and then the superintendent would go out 
and close the door. 

The annual examinations, in the latter part of May, 
closed the academic year. In my class I was posted num- 
ber one at first ; but some subsequent calculations, which I 



12 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

have never quite understood, based on the fact that cer- 
tain other midshipmen failed to pass, made Weggman 
number one and me number two. 

We started on our practice cruise in the early part of 
June, and came back to Annapolis in the latter part of 
September. We were on the cruise nearly four months, 
and it was the most unpleasant four months I have ever 
experienced. We were embarked in two ships, the old 
Constellation, famous from the War of 1798, and the Sara- 
toga. The Saratoga was much the smaller of the two, 
and I was one of the sixty midshipmen in the Saratoga. 
We slept in hammocks, a thing of which I did not at all ap- 
prove, for the reason that I would have nightmare about 
once in three nights. One has to lie on his back for the 
most part in a hammock, because he cannot lie out 
straight ; and if one has any tendency toward nightmare, 
the hammock aggravates it greatly. The nightmares 
that I suffered while sleeping doubled up on my back in 
my hammock were sometimes quite distressing. One 
night I found myself lying on the deck, very much be- 
wildered, and two of my classmates kneeling by me. 
They said I had held the sheet up in front of my face, and 
had apparently become very much frightened at it, and 
then had thrown myself out of my hammock, screaming. 

In port we had to get up at five o'clock in the morning 
and entertain ourselves as best we could on the wet decks, 
which were being scrubbed down, until eight o'clock, when 
we had breakfast. We had three meals a day, but the 
only thing on the bill of fare that I can remember was 
dried apples. I think we had them for every meal, but I 
may be wrong about that. I remember very clearly, 
however, that when we were nearly out of dried apples, 
we went into some port, and the paymaster went ashore to 
get more provisions. The midshipmen had to haul on the 
ropes which hoisted the new provisions on board, and we 
watched with intense interest the marks on the barrels to 
see what they contained. All contained dried apples. 

The sixty midshipmen had a wash-room away forward 



THE NAVAL ACADEMY 13 

on the berth-deck, which had nine stationary wash-basins. 
There was no ventilation, and I remember sixty more or 
less seasick midshipmen trying to wash themselves in 
nine wash-basins, and not making any very determined 
efforts to keep good humored. The experience was very 
good, doubtless, but none of us has ever looked back on it 
with pleasure. At sea we had to stand watches both night 
and day, and we had nothing to eat after our supper of 
dried apples at five o'clock until eight o'clock the next 
morning. During the early part of the cruise, before we 
got over being seasick, we spent most of our time lying on 
the spar-deck in attitudes of dejection, varied by trips 
to the lee side to relieve our stomachic disquietude, and 
by jeers at our comrades when they were making these 
trips. We had study hour's and recitations every day. I 
remember that we were called by the bugle, and that the 
tune was "Not for Joe." We had to haul on the big 
ropes that moved the sails and yards, alongside of the 
colored servants, and the officer of the deck would call out 
to us continually, ''Haul away, gentlemen." 

No vessel like the Saratoga now sails the seas. There 
are sailing ships, of course, still on the ocean, but they 
are very different from the Saratoga. The Saratoga 
was a man-of-war in the same sense that the proudest 
battleship is now, and her routine was carried on with 
just as much rigor and precision. The man-of-warsman 
of that day has also passed away, and so in a less degree 
has the naval officer of that day. Although the ships car- 
ried guns, and although it was realized that the guns were 
the things which would decide, and always had decided 
battles, yet the gunnery of that day was so simple, in 
comparison with the seamanship of that day, that a naval 
officer's reputation depended almost wholly on his ability 
in handling ships under sail. The amount of time de- 
voted to gunnery drills was not more than an hour a day 
on the average, and usually much less, while the whole 
time at sea had to be devoted to the handling of the ship. 

The Saratoga and the Constellation had no steam 



14 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

power ; they depended wholly on their sails for their pro- 
pulsion. A few of the cruising ships of the navy had 
steam power; but captains ordinarily used it for going 
into and out of port only, and did virtually all of their 
cruising under sail. This condition continued until after 
1890, though with a gradually increasing tendency to dis- 
card sails. Yet every naval battle of the Civil War, even 
that between the Kearsarge and the Alabama, had been 
fought under steam alone ! The reversion of the navy to 
sail power after the Civil War would seem an amazing 
thing, did we not realize that a profound conviction set- 
tled upon the people of the United States after that war 
that it would be the last war, and that the only use for the 
navy was to ''show the flag" in foreign ports. 

The two ''practice ships" went back to Annapolis just 
before the first of October, when the new academic year 
began. We were all delighted to get ashore, and I 
have never had such a feeling of enjoying real luxury as 
when I then stretched myself out in a flat bed in a quiet 
room. 

The next academic year, my third-class year, passed 
uneventfully for me. The first two months of the year 
passed rather eventfully for four of my class, because 
they indulged in hazing to such a degree that they were 
court-martialed and dismissed. The rest of the year is a 
blank space in my memory: I cannot remember a single 
event or incident. At the end of the academic year Wegg- 
man again was number one, and I was number two. At 
the beginning of the year I was elected secretary and 
treasurer of the class ; a position to which I was reelected 
in each of the two following years. 

My second-class academic year began in October. The 
second-class year was usually considered the most difficult 
year, and it was so in our case. At the end of that year 
Peters was number one, I was number two, and Wegg- 
man, who had fallen behind a great deal this year, stood 
number three. 

The events of my second-class year that stand out the 



THE NAVAL ACADEMY 15 

most clearly in my memory are my fight with Michelson 
and the trip of the midshipmen to Washington to take 
part in the parade on Grant's second inauguration, March 
4, 1873. 

My fight with Michelson was caused by what I thought 
to be an affront to my ofiScial dignity. I was a ''double 
diamond," or sergeant, as was Michelson; but one eve- 
ning, due to the absence of the cadet petty officer of his 
company, which was the first company, it devolved upon 
Michelson to give the order ' ' right dress ' ' after we went 
left face into line. While we were gradually easing back 
or moving backward in order to form a straight line, 
Michelson sang out, ''Dress back, Mr. Fiske." 

So I met him after dinner and challenged him to fight, a 
challenge that he accepted with promptness and appar- 
ently with pleasure. 

Michelson was a real genius. He was said to study 
less than any other man in the class and to occupy most 
of his time in scientific experiments ; but he always stood 
near the head of the class. Besides, he was a light- 
weight athlete in a moderate way, and took extra lessons 
in fencing and boxing. These were arts of which at that 
time I was ignorant, as we were not taught them until our 
first-class year. Michelson made some experiments on 
the velocity of light in 1876 that gave him world-wide 
fame. He resigned a few years later, and became one of 
the foremost physical scientists in the world. The fame 
of Professor A. A. Michelson is bright in the minds of 
the scientific men of every country, and his name will be 
known long after the names of many men who are eminent 
now have passed into oblivion. 

The details of the fight were very carefully arranged; 
in fact the arranging of the details took more time than 
did the fight itself. That I had not the slightest chance 
became evident in about one minute; but I hammered 
away the best I could until the referees saw that I 
could n 't see out of either eye and declared that the fight 
was finished. I was put on the sick list by the surgeon 



16 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

for "contusions," and I stayed on the sick list for eight 
days. 

The battalion of midshipmen were called at half-past 
four on the morning of March 4, 1873, and put into an 
early train — a very cold train — for Washington. After 
reaching Washington, we formed and marched through 
the city to some house. We then broke ranks and went 
into the house to get warm. I was color-sergeant of the 
battalion, and I remember that I had a very hard time 
struggling along against the cold wind and the dust that 
it raised. While we were in this house a rumor was 
brought in that the West Point Cadets were not going to 
wear their overcoats. As it would be very disgraceful 
for us to wear ours in those circumstances, we decided 
instantly that we would not wear them. The rumor had 
just as much basis as most rumors have; but the news 
of our not going to wear our overcoats reached the West 
Pointers promptly, and so they had to discard theirs. 
The result was that the cadets of both academies passed 
an extremely miserable day. During the march of our 
battalion from the railway station I had so much diffi- 
culty in carrying the flag against the wind, that two color- 
corporals in the rear rank had to push me along. So the 
officer in charge put Bowyer temporarily in my place, and 
put me in the rear rank in Bowyer 's place. Bowyer was 
a large and very strong man, and he carried the flag with 
little trouble. 

I began my last year with the unfortunate idea that 
both Weggman and Peters were ahead of me for the first 
three years, and that I might just as well "take it easy." 
I did take it easy, and I have been sorry for it ever since. 
I became devoted to dancing, and I took much more in- 
terest in the pretty Annapolis girls than I did in my drills 
and studies. As one of the cadet officers, I sat at a special 
table near the exit of the mess-hall; but it was strictly 
against orders to leave it without permission. One after- 
noon I made an engagement with a young lady to meet her 
at a quarter-past one next day, and at the appointed time 



THE NAVAL ACADEMY 17 

I sneaked out of the mess-hall when the officer in charge 
was not looking. I joined the young lady and had a pleas- 
ant walk; but the fact was noted by one of the officers, 
who reported it to the superintendent, Commodore Wor- 
den, the man who fought the Monitor in the battle with the 
Merrimac. The next day I was reduced to the grade of 
private. I was compelled to cut off my stripes and double 
diamonds, and a letter denouncing my conduct was read 
to the battalion. 

During the year four other cadet officers and petty of- 
ficers were reduced to the ranks, so that there were five of 
us. We formed a club, which we called the "Privates 
Club," to enter which there was no initiation fee, and for 
which the only requirement was that one should have 
been reduced to the ranks for some misconduct. The 
only principle of the club was to refrain from going to 
dress-parade. 

Things ran on for a short while very pleasantly until 
about a month before the end of my course at the acad- 
emy. One evening, about half an hour after dress- 
parade, I received orders to report to the officer in charge. 
He said: 

''Were you at dress-parade this afternoon, Mr. Fiske!" 

*'No, sir," I said. 

''You are not on the sick list or excused list, I believe." 

"No, sir." 

"Have you any excuse for not having gone to dress- 
parade?" 

"No, sir." 

The next morning I was put under arrest in a modi- 
fied degree. That is, I was ordered to attend all the 
recitations and exercises, but was to be marched down to 
the Santee every evening after supper, and marched back 
to breakfast formation the following morning. The 
Santee was an old sailing ship, which was moored along- 
side of a wharf, and was used for the double purpose of 
holding great gun exercises and as a place of confinement 
for midshipmen under punishment. 



18 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

I spent my last month at the Naval Academy under 
those conditions. The annual examinations were held in 
May, and when the final multiples were all made out, I 
found, to my astonishment, that I was number two for 
the four-years' course, and would take rank next to the 
head of the class. This fact surprised my classmates 
also, because they thought that I had gone to pieces alto- 
gether. In fact, I had ; but the shock of being sent to the 
Santee braced me up, and operated to make me do very 
much better on my final examinations than I would have 
done otherwise. When all the accounts came in, I found 
that I had really been number one for the first three years, 
and that I probably could have been one for the four years 
if I had only shown a little more sense in my last year. 

At the academy, at that time, the ''first five" in the 
first class of cadet midshipmen wore a star on each side of 
the collar, and on graduation day they received their di- 
plomas from the secretary of the navy before the rest of 
the class did. Peters received his diploma first. To re- 
ceive it, he stretched out an arm that had on it a double 
diamond and four stripes ; and I never shall get over the 
mortification that I felt when, immediately after him, I 
stretched out my arm on which were no stripes or dia- 
monds whatever, but the marks of some that had been cut 
off for misconduct. 

We graduated about noon May 30, 1874. I remember 
that my principal anxiety then was to see that the vari- 
ous members of the class paid for their class-rings, the 
average cost of which was about fifty dollars. As secre- 
tary and treasurer of the class, I had made myself per- 
sonally responsible with Bailey, Banks & Biddle for all 
the class-rings ; and so I was very diligent in rounding up 
the members of the class, and reminding them to pay for 
their rings out of the reserve pay which the regulations of 
the academy compelled every midshipman to accumulate. 
All the class paid for their rings that afternoon except 
two, who forgot to do so ; but a little correspondence with 
them soon rectified the situation. 



THE NAVAL ACADEMY 19 

I suppose we felt veiy much as all graduates do, but I 
do not see how the graduates of any other institution 
could feel quite so much uncertainty about the future in 
one way and so little in another. There is no life so 
varied as that of a naval officer, so full of startling and 
sudden experiences, and so uncertain in regard to what 
those experiences may be. But, on the other hand, each 
of us had before him the practical certainty of honorable 
and sufficiently lucrative employment for a lifetime, a 
prospect which few other graduates have. 

I doubt if any of us was ever as good a man after- 
ward as he was on his graduation day. Every one of us 
had the purpose to lead an honorable life, to reject all 
temptations, to refuse to take unfair advantage of any- 
thing or anybody for the sake of material gain, and to 
live in such a way as to be worthy of the navy. We had a 
profound reverence for the navy, and the greatest am- 
bition which any of us had was to be "a good officer." 

This was not a mean ambition or one easily realized. 
A wise old sailor said to me one day on the practice cruise, 
**I don't think it 's hard, Mr. Fiske, to be a naval officer; 
but it must be awful hard to be a good one." 

Few wiser remarks have I ever heard. How easy it 
is to fill any position in life, how difficult it is to fill it 
well! 



CHAPTER III 

THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE — KALAKAUA AND THE 
SANDWICH ISLANDS 

AFTER graduation I went out to a farm which my 
father had bought outside of Cincinnati, but I was 
not allowed to stay there long. Of course I did not 
wish to do so, for I was eager for those adventures on 
the sea and in foreign lands that I had read about in 
boyhood, and of which I had heard many stories while 
I was at Annapolis. My mother did not sympathize 
with my feelings very much, but she did somewhat, for 
she herself was of an adventurous disposition ; perhaps 
this was the reason she had married a minister. At 
length, about the first of August, orders came for mid- 
shipman B. A. Fiske to report on August 15, 1874, to 
the commander-in-chief of the North Pacific Fleet at 
the navy-yard at Mare Island, California. My mother 
was almost prostrated when the orders finally came; 
but she went bravely with me to the station, and waved 
farewell as the train started to the west. 

The trip to Mare Island, which is about forty miles 
from San Francisco, took seven days. It was really a 
most uncomfortable trip, but to a man who was only two 
months more than twenty years old it was full of ad- 
venture and sometimes of excitement. The railroad had 
been completed only a few years before, and it was hardly 
yet finished in all ways. There were no dining-cars, of 
course, and we took our meals at stations along the road, 
which in many cases were of unpainted pine boards. 
There had been a number of attacks on the trains by 
Indians, and so every man of us carried arms of some 
description. I carried a tremendous navy revolver, 

20 



THE MIDSHIPMAN" CRUISE 21 

which could fire six 45-caliber bullets, and which had 
belonged to my uncle. We occasionally saw Indians gal- 
loping about, and the villages that we passed were of the 
crudest character. At some of the stations some of the 
passengers would get off, and get into enormous stage- 
coaches, drawn by four or more horses, coach and horses 
covered with white dust; and the horses would gallop 
off with them, sending up clouds of white powder into 
the air. The railroad lay across the Great American 
Desert, as it was then called, and we traveled for days 
along alkali plains on which there was no vegetation 
except a very little sage-brush, and the air was so dry 
and hot that our lips cracked. 

One afternoon I was sitting on the rear platform of 
the rear car, going through a narrow caiion, when in an 
instant we emerged into a broad and level plain, covered 
with luxuriant green vegetation; and we looked behind 
us and saw a wall of rock, through which we seemed to 
have come as through a door. We were on the fertile 
ground of Utah, which the Mormons had made fertile by 
cutting canals of water through it. 

On the seventh day of the trip I arrived at Vallejo, a 
little town opposite Mare Island, on which the navy- 
yard is situated, and I drove proudly in a carriage to 
the Barnard House. 

I saw a number of naval uniforms there, and I made 
many acquaintances before dinner-time. That evening 
there was a dance in the little hotel ballroom, and I danced 
every alternate dance with Miss Greathouse, a pretty 
girl from Kentucky, who was attired in an absolutely 
beautiful pink-and-light-blue dress. 

The next morning I donned my uniform and reported 
to Admiral Almy, who was commander-in-chief of the 
fleet, but had a temporary office in the navy-yard. His 
flagship, the Pensacola, was undergoing radical repairs, 
and was moored alongside the wharf. Her condition was 
such that nobody lived on board. The crew and the mid- 
shipmen lived on board the old line-of-battle ship Inde- 



22 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

pendence, and the higher officers lived on shore, most 
of them in San Francisco. 

During the next five months I had a splendid time. 
Our duties consisted in supervising, under a lieutenant, 
the work of repair parties of sailors sent on board the 
Pensacola; but these duties were over by five o'clock, and 
on every alternate day we did not have any duties at all. 
We had a great deal of leisure, too much, in fact ; so that 
I am surprised now that we kept as good as we did. 
Our main diversion was to go over to Vallejo and call 
on the young ladies there and play billiards in the Barn- 
ard House. I became very devoted to the daughter of the 
Presbyterian minister. One day I was standing at the 
bar drinking a sherry cobbler, which was a great drink 
in those days. Just as I finished my drink, I saw this 
young lady go by. I immediately hurried out to the 
street, and I joined her before she had gone very far. 
I had hardly done so when the barkeeper rushed up and 
seized me suddenly from behind, shouting "Look here. 
Mister, you didn't pay for them drinks." 

There was a great deal of drinking going on then 
among the naval officers in Vallejo. There were a num- 
ber of ships in port, which had come in from long cruises 
at sea, and the officers had saved up a good deal of money. 
They were mostly young men, the average lieutenant 
being about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, and 
nearly all of them were unmarried. When I remember 
how much drinking there was, and how little actual 
drunkenness, I realize what a gulf there really is be- 
tween the two conditions. I became convinced, however, 
in a few days that I was in a dangerous atmosphere. I 
considered the advisability of adopting total abstinence ; 
but I hesitated to do this, as it would put me virtually 
in a class by myself. As I had the ambition which most 
young men had, and still have, of being ''a man of the 
world," I finally decided to abstain totally from distilled 
liquors (that is, from whisky, brandy, gin, alcohol, and 
rum), but to drink wine and beer. I cannot say that I 



THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE 23 

have ever had any reason to regret my decision, which I 
carried out, with very few lapses, for more than thirty 
years. 

Finally the Pensacola's repairs were finished, and we 
started for Honolulu. We steamed out of the beautiful 
bay of San Francisco just before sunset on January 27, 
1875, and the setting sun threw a golden light upon the 
water ahead of us. We accepted this as an augury of a 
cruise that would be bright and happy, and full of ad- 
ventures of many kinds. We had on board King Kala- 
kaua of the Hawaiian Islands, then called the Sandwich 
Islands, and a suite of several officials. Kalakaua had 
just made a tour of the United States, and was going 
back to his dominions under the auspices of the United 
States Government liberally supplied with cigars and 
wine. 

His birthday occurred a few days after leaving port. 
T sat next to Governor Capena, governor of the island 
of Maui, at dinner that night, and the governor's servant 
stood behind his chair. This was the first time that I 
had ever been at a large dinner and the first time I had 
ever drunk champagne. I did not notice that the gov- 
ernor's servant filled my glass every time I looked away, 
and the result was a headache next morning so clean- 
cut and sharp that it made an indelible impression on 
my memory. 

The following evening I was officer of the forecastle, 
and about 11 o'clock I saw the light of a lantern flashing 
about near me. I went up to it, and saw it was held 
by a sailor, who seemed to be looking into out-of-the-way 
places. I said to him sharply: 

''What are you doing with that light?" 

*'I 'm looking for his Majesty, sir," he replied. His 
Majesty could not be found on deck, but was found later 
in the admiral's office, asleep. 

The Pensacola was a double-decked frigate, with auxili- 
ary steam power, but at sea we always proceeded by sail 
alone. One morning about daybreak I was aroused by 



24 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

a frightful crash, as if the whole ship had split in two, 
and heard the boatswain's sharp whistle and his call, 
**A11 hands save ship." There were thirteen midship- 
men and three clerks sleeping in the steerages then; I 
was one of the fortunate ones who had a bunk. I dressed 
myself quickly and went on deck. I saw the executive 
officer, Lieutenant-Commander Brown, giving orders on 
the bridge over the quarter-deck, with the captain stand- 
ing beside him, and a scene of indescribable confusion 
everywhere. It was raining hard, and a gale was blow- 
ing, and the ship was rolling heavily. I could not make 
out at first what was the matter, but I finally saw that 
the middle one of the three masts, which we called the 
''main mast," had broken in two about half-way up from 
the deck; that it had fallen over, bringing down with 
it the maintopsail-yard, and that it had carried part of 
the other two masts with it also. I have always been 
of a timid disposition, but, for some reason, in times of 
excitement I seem to get so interested as to forget it. 
So on this occasion I jumped into the work aloft, and 
attracted the attention of the captain ; so that he reported 
me, among others, to the admiral for good conduct in the 
emergency. 

By the close of the day we had the wreck cleared up, 
but not, of course, repaired, and a few days later we 
steamed into the most heavenly place, according to ap- 
pearance, that I had ever seen. We approached the 
harbor of Honolulu by steaming to the westward along 
the southern coast of the island of Oahu, a coast evi- 
dently of volcanic origin, high and rugged, but covered 
for the most part with dense green vegetation. We 
rounded Diamond Head, and then slowed down, and 
took a pilot on board. He conducted us through a nar- 
row channel of deep blue water, bounded on each side 
by coral reefs, and then turned to the left into an ap- 
proximately circular land-locked bay. Near the beach 
was a little city of white houses, shining through trees, 
with here and there a church spire or a gray tower 



THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE 25 

showing, and backed by a low mountain-range, over which 
hung dense white cumulus clouds that were blown toward 
the west by the brisk trade-wind. 

We anchored perhaps a quarter of a mile from the 
water-front of the town, planted an anchor on a reef near 
by, and hauled our stern around toward the reef. In 
this position our bow pointed toward the northeast, fac- 
ing the direction of the trade-wind, which came across 
the Pacific Ocean and down Nuana Valley. 

We stayed there four months. During these months 
man-of-war discipline was maintained in the strictest 
fashion on board the ship, and drills were carried on with 
spirit and regularity. Some of the drills consisted in 
infantry manoeuvers and marches on the shore. Our 
captain was Bancroft Gherardi, one of the finest men I 
have ever met, kindly, highly intelligent, interested in. 
everything, and exceedingly strict. The Pensacola was 
as neat as the typical bandbox, and so was everybody on 
board. The life on board was such as would meet the 
requirements of the most exacting person. 

But the life on shore was different, even the lives of 
some of the officers of the ship, including, I am sorry to 
say, myself. The king was in many ways what is now 
called a ''sport." He was a man of great natural abil- 
ity, well educated, attractive, an excellent speaker, rather 
handsome, a real friend of his people, and a typical good 
fellow in every way. But he drank more than was good 
for him, and his code of personal morality was not much 
above that of the rest of his people. He had a court 
which was like those of the European kingdoms, and 
modeled on them, except, of course, that it was smaller, 
and that the officials were not in the Vere de Vere caste 
to the same degree as were the officials of the European 
courts. For instance, the lord high chamberlain was 
known, in his daily life as ''Ned Boyd, the butcher." 
The officials of the Government were native Hawaiians 
or half-whites, though I think the attorney-general was 
pure white. This attorney-general used always to wear a 



26 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

very large, gray high hat with an enormous brim, a 
long black coat, a big red necktie, and light trousers. As 
he had an extraordinarily red face, his appearance was 
attractive ; that is, it attracted attention. 

The king introduced us into the best circles of Hawaiian 
society. After that I think that the conduct of some of 
us was not such as our parents would approve of. There 
were two kinds of society in Honolulu at this time, the 
missionary society and the half -white society. The mis- 
sionary society was composed of as fine people, men 
and women, as one would meet anywhere. They were 
either the families and relatives of missionaries or the 
descendants of missionaries. The half -white society was 
composed, as the name indicates, of people who were half- 
white and half -Kanaka, the word "Kanaka" being the 
native word for Hawaiian, and in the Hawaiian language 
meaning literally "a man." One family in the so-called 
half -white society was not quite half -white ; this was the 
Afong family. The father was a wealthy Chinese mer- 
chant, and the mother was the daughter of a Portuguese 
man and an Hawaiian woman. This family had several 
attractive daughters, only one of whom at the time of 
our visit was ''in society." 

At first the base of our operations on shore was the 
Royal Hawaiian Hotel, but shortly after our arrival 
half a dozen of us rented a cottage near it, which we called 
"Whisky Ranch." It had a few comfortable rooms for 
sleeping and an enormous bath-tub, the top of which came 
even with the floor. 

I remember two grand balls during our stay. The 
first was given by the Government to the Pensacola, and 
the second was given, as I recollect it, to some German 
ship. I am sorry to say that my recollections of either 
ball are not at all clear. I have never seen since such a 
general disregard of prudence in the matter of drinking 
as I did at those balls, especially at the first ball. A large 
pavilion was erected on the grounds of the hotel, and in 
this the dancing was held; but people would go out con- 



THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE 27 

tinually to drink champagne. I do not remember that 
anything else was drmik. My recollections of the latter 
part of the evening are very cloudy, but very beautiful. 
Shortly afterward I awoke in the cool, gray dawn of 
the "morning after," and found myself lying on the 
front steps of the hotel in full-dress uniform. 

The editor of the daily paper was at the ball. The 
next day the Honolulu Gazette had a really wonderful ac- 
count of it. This was so wonderful that most of us got 
copies of the Gazette and kept them. I have lost mine, 
and I am sorry to say that I remember only one sen- 
tence in it. It read, ''It was a Honolulu night of tender 
tone; the scandent stars kept time with the musically 
marching hours, and shone from azure depths of cir- 
cumambient love. ' ' 

One afternoon about sunset I went forward to re- 
lieve Midshipman Robinson as officer of the forecastle. 
The dinghy was being hoisted when, through clumsiness, 
the forward end became unhooked, and the man in the 
bow fell into the water, which was perfectly smooth. 
Robinson and I jumped overboard, and so did about one 
hundred sailors, and in a few seconds the water was 
crowded with men trying to save somebody from drown- 
ing, but nobody knew whom. Several men came near 
being drowned, though nobody was. The only result of 
the episode, as far as I know, was that the salt water got 
into an expensive watch that Robinson wore and ruined 
it. 

At some time about the first of July we went on a 
cruise to the other islands of the group. We got under 
way in the afternoon, and toward evening were steaming 
to the eastward against the fresh trade-wind, which vir- 
tually always blows here. We passed the Island of Mo- 
lokai, to which lepers were sent and are still sent. Then 
we turned to the southward, and the next day we steamed 
down the west coast of the beautiful island of Mauai, 
and looked with delight at the high mountain-ranges, cov- 
ered with wild and luxuriant vegetation, and pierced by 



28 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIEAL 

narrow, rocky canons and broad and fertile valleys. We 
anchored in the bay of Lahaina, called by sailors ''blow- 
hole bay," because the wind always blows there with 
tremendous velocity from the shore, having been fun- 
neled through a cafion, which is wide on the east side 
and narrow on the west. Eowing from the ship to the 
shore was very arduous labor, but coming back was easy, 
because we simply ''peaked" the oars, so that they acted 
as sails, and made the wind blow us from the shore to 
the ship. Some of us made an expedition from here to 
a valley that Mark Twain described as being the most 
beautiful in the world. Certainly it was beautiful, being 
narrow and deep and long, bounded by high mountain- 
ranges, and filled with ferns of many kinds, some of them 
very large, and some of them exceedingly delicate and 
fine. 

From Lahaina we went to Hilo, the largest town in 
the Island of Hawaii, the southernmost and largest island 
of the Hawaiian group. We spent one day in steaming to 
the eastward along the high, steep volcanic coast, part of 
which was literally "pinnacled in clouds." Many water- 
falls could be seen falling down the abrupt and pre- 
cipitous coast-line; at one time we could count eighteen. 

The next morning, after anchoring, I took the sailing- 
launch with a party of men ashore to get fresh water. 
This procedure was very frequent in those da}^ and in 
the days gone by, but I doubt if it is ever practised now. 
I took the sailing-launch up the small river that emptied 
into the bay, and filled it with fresh water by the simple 
process of taking the plug out of the bottom and letting 
the water run in. A number of Hawaiian women came 
and sat on the beach near by, and I got a half -white man 
who happened to be there to tell me what they were 
talking about. He said that they were talking about the 
men, and he told me what they said. 

The reason for going to Hilo was that we might go 
from there to the volcano of Kilauea. We went to the 
volcano in parties. I was in a party with three other 



THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE 29 

midshipmen, Dorn, Robinson, and Allderdice. The trip 
took twenty-four hours, including our stop at night, and 
was made on horseback. We arrived at the Volcano 
House one morning, and at once descended into the 
crater. The crater was about three miles across, and was 
in general circular in shape. We descended to the floor 
of the crater by means of a succession of ladders. The 
floor of the crater was of more or less hard lava, seamed 
with fissures about two inches wide, down which we 
could see red-hot lava. In many cases the red-hot lava 
was so close to the top, that we put our sticks down and 
lighted them. In one of these fissures, near the top, I 
saw some ferns growing. I picked one of them and I 
sent it to my mother in my next letter. Not many years 
ago, in looking into the family album, I found that fern, 
secured on a piece of paper, with an explanation as to 
what it was, written in my handwriting. 

Besides the fissures, which ran in all directions across 
the crater-floor, there were three burning lakes of molten 
lava, each an acre or more in extent. To a man standing 
on the shores of one of these lakes the scene was inexpres- 
sibly full of awe. The whole mass of lava was in violent 
ebullition. The scum at the top was very dark in color, 
but the crust was continually broken here and there by 
explosions underneath, when little columns of red lava 
would be thrown up by the forces beneath. I remember 
very vaguely seeing what might be called ''a lava-fall," 
and standing by a small river of red molten lava that 
rushed over a precipice down into a sort of hole and 
disappeared into the bowels of the earth. At one time, 
as we were standing on the brink of one of the lakes, 
the wind suddenly shifted in such a way as to blow over 
us the hot sulphurous fumes that were rising from the 
lake. We seemed to be in immediate danger of asphyxia- 
tion when the wind suddenly shifted again. The guide 
told us then that this was the principal danger in going 
into the crater. 

That night we got on our horses and galloped around 



30 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tlie crater. The night was very dark, and we could see 
the red fissures crossing back and forth on the floor of 
the crater, the three burning lakes, and the reflection of 
the whole showing red on the clouds above. The Volcano 
House was about a hundred yards from the brink of 
the crater, and the last thing I saw before I closed my 
eyes that night was this red reflection on the clouds. 

The next morning we returned by another route than 
the one by which we had come. We started in a heavy 
rain, and rode for some hours through a dense vegeta- 
tion. Then suddenly we came to what in the Hawaiian 
language is called a pali, and there we saw ahead of us a 
large plain perfectly sterile and flat. Descending the 
pali by a road that was narrow and winding and yet 
steep, we entered into another climate. We left a climate 
that was wet and went into one that was dry. From the 
top of the pali we could see the ocean far beneath, with 
the horizon so far away that it seemed almost on a level 
with us, and so faint that we could hardly tell where the 
sea stopped and the sky began, though the air was very 
clear. 

The explanation for the sudden change in climate was 
that the country which we had been riding through was 
so situated that the northeast trade-wind, blowing on it 
directly, condensed into mist and rain, whereas the plain 
upon which we descended was so sheltered behind the 
condensing high land that the air which blew over it 
was wholly dry. 

About one o'clock we came to a little village, and were 
welcomed most hospitably by a French missionary. He 
invited us to lunch. The lunch consisted of bread-fruit, 
which is a little like coarse sweet potato with the taste 
taken out, and of warm water, which he kept in bottles. 
Water was very scarce there, and had to be treasured 
carefully. The priest spoke English beautifully, and 
was one of the most attractive gentlemen I have ever met. 
He had a tiny church, and inside were some highly colored 
pictures of the saints. A native pointed to these pic- 



THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE 31 

tures proudly, and said "Maihai," which is the Hawaiian 
word for "good." The priest told us that about a year 
before he had come back from Paris, where he had spent 
his vacation after a previous sojourn of seven years in 
this place, and that he was then looking forward to his 
next visit to Paris, which would occur six years later. 
This delightful and highly cultivated man seemed as 
happy as most of us, and yet his life was spent in an 
arid tract somewhere in the Island of Hawaii, among the 
most ignorant kind of natives, where he rarely saw a 
white man and rarely got a mail. Truly ''the mind is 
its own place, and of itself can make a heaven of hell, a 
hell of heaven." This man's happiness was due to the 
fact that he was accomplishing his mission. His mission 
was the noble one of saving the souls of men. 

That afternoon we rode our tired horses over what was 
mostly beds of cooled lava, and at nightfall we arrived 
at a little inn kept by an old sea-captain who had mar- 
ried an Hawaiian woman. We and our horses were just 
about as tired as we could be and I know of one young 
man who soon stretched out between two cool white 
sheets and forgot how tired he was. 

The next morning we were so sore that we could hardly 
eat our breakfast. The old sea-captain then said that 
there was near by a pool of warm sulphur water which 
was splendid for the complaint we had, and we con- 
cluded to try it. So he and his two young daughters, 
whose mother was a Hawaiian woman, escorted us to 
this pool. It looked very attractive, but seemed a little 
shallow. We soon found, however, that it was exceed- 
ingly deep, but was so clear and the bottom so white that 
the bottom looked to be nearer the top than it actually 
was. 

As we made no move to disrobe, the captain said, 
*'Why, aren't you going in?" We felt a little natural 
modesty in the presence of these two young women un- 
til we saw them disrobe and plunge head foremost into 
the pool. Then we promptly followed suit, and had one 



32 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

of the most delightful baths we ever had, the warm 
sulphurous water acting like balm to our aching joints 
and muscles. 

We joined the ship that evening, and a few days after- 
ward sailed back to Honolulu ; but before we left, a fleet 
of war-galleys, decked with flowers and plants and filled 
with natives armed and in war costume, paraded around 
the bay to do us honor. 

We stayed in Honolulu about two months. The prin- 
cipal thing that I remember is the ball that was given to 
a German ship, to which we were invited. The mid- 
shipmen of Whisky Ranch invited some of the German 
midshipmen to the cottage during the evening. As it 
was too laborious an undertaking to go to the hotel every 
time we wanted a drink of champagne, we sent our serv- 
ant, Tom Peters, to the hotel, and he brought us plenty. 
The night passed without ennui, but I remember only 
one incident, and that was receiving the congratulations 
of the company because I threw a base-ball bat through 
the window with such skill as to break every pane of 
glass. 

We left Honolulu on the twenty-fifth of September, and 
I am sure that every one of us carried away with him 
an affectionate feeling for the kindly people, the beauti- 
ful flower-bordered streets, the silvery moonlight. Dia- 
mond Head, the lunar rainbows, the pali, the wonderful 
verdure, the quiet, landlocked harbor, the fresh trade- 
winds that blew unceasingly, and the delightful warmth 
that was never heat. 

A trip of thirty days, taken under sail, over warm, 
smooth seas, brought us to La Paz, a small mining town 
in the southeastern end of Lower California, on the Gulf 
of California. It was a terribly hot place. The only 
thing I remember clearly is going ashore one afternoon 
and meeting there a sailor who had just received an hon- 
orable discharge from the ship, and whose name was 
Segur. Segur had been captain of the f oretop ; that is, 
he had been in charge of all the sailors who worked on 



THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE 33 

the foremast and on the sails spread on it. I was ''mid- 
shipman of the foretop," and Segur had been my right- 
hand man. So when I met Segur ashore, already in his 
civilian clothes, and Segur asked me to have a drink 
with him, in memory of old times I consented. Unfor- 
tunately, I broke my rule of never drinking spirituous 
liquors, and drank a Mexican drink called ''mescal," with 
Segur, which in a short time made me exceptionally 
drunk. The next day, when I was not feeling very well, 
a dozen disreputable-looking Mexicans came off to see me, 
and said I had invited them to dinner. Probably I had ; 
but I repudiated the invitation, nevertheless. This was 
the last time I ever became intoxicated. 

From La Paz we went to Mazatlan. I went to a 
relojeria, to have my watch repaired. I spoke to the 
watchmaker in my best Spanish, and he answered in per- 
fectly good English, "What do you say?" I was so in- 
tent on getting my Spanish right that I repeated my ques- 
tion again in Spanish, but was quickly called to my senses 
by a not very complimentary remark from Dorn. Dorn 
and I then went to buy some Spanish books, in order to 
improve our Spanish. We could not find any book-store 
but in a dry-goods store we found two Spanish books, and 
only two. Dorn bought one, and I bought the other. 
My book was called "Historia Griega," which, being 
translated, means "Greek History." 

From Mazatlan we went to Acapulco, and anchored 
there in a tremendously hot, landlocked harbor. Holmes 
and I went on a hunting expedition in a canoe upon a 
lagoon near by. It was picturesque in the highest de- 
gree. We spent hours being paddled by a native over 
smooth, warm water, unruffled by a breeze, amid the most 
luxuriant vegetation that can be imagined, flown over by 
birds of many kinds, but all of brilliant plumage. 

The trip from Acapulco to San Francisco lasted thirty 
days, the same time as the trip from Honolulu to La Paz. 
On the trip to La Paz we had not seen a single thing ex- 
cept the sky and the water and a few birds, but on the 



34 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

way north we passed several vessels. The trip was 
pleasant most of the time, though dull, of course, but it 
ended in a five-days' northwest gale. This gale not only 
made the ship roll tremendously, but blew a cold wind 
right through the very marrow of our tropically heated 
bones. The gale ended, however, as all gales thus far 
have done. It was during this gale that some one said 
to me, ''You know all gales have ended except one." I 
fell into the trap and asked, ''Which gale was that?" 
He answered, "This one." 

At last, on the twenty-seventh of January, 1876, we 
steamed into San Francisco Harbor, exactly a year after 
the day when we had left it. We saw the water-front 
decorated with flags, a great many people on the wharves, 
and a great many excursion steamers filled with people 
rushing about the bay. Having been accustomed for a 
year to be the center of attraction everywhere, we ac- 
cepted these demonstrations as proper tributes to our 
homecoming. But we soon found that they were given 
in honor of the arrival of the City of Pekin, a brand-new 
steamer of the Pacific Mail Company, which had just 
reached San Francisco after a trip from New York 
through the Strait of Magellan. 

We went to our old home, alongside the dock at the 
Mare Island Navy-Yard, and proceeded to get repaired 
again. This time, however, the repairs were not of a 
very serious kind, and so we continued to live on board 
ship. We resumed acquaintance with the young people 
of Vallejo, fair and unfair, but the conditions were evi- 
dently different. Before we had left, we had been wholly 
inexperienced youngsters just out of school ; now not only 
were we older by a year, but our growth had been forced 
by the hothouse conditions of Honolulu life. Besides 
that, we had then been just at the beginning of our cruise, 
whereas now we were nearing the end; and we knew 
that we should soon be ordered east, after that to cruises 
in other parts of the world. Furthermore, we saw imme- 
diately ahead of us the necessity of preparing for ex- 



THE MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE 35 

animation for promotion to the grade of ensign, and each 
felt a serious doubt as to whether he would pass the 
examination, and considerable anxiety as to how success- 
fully he would pass it, if he passed it at all. The degree 
of success in passing the examination was a very impor- 
tant thing; for in those days we did not become ensigns 
(in fact, we were not finally graduated) until two years 
after getting our diplomas at the academy. The two- 
years' cruise as a midshipman was held to be part of each 
man's academic course, and the marks which he received" 
on the examination at its conclusion were combined with 
the marks he received at Annapolis to establish his stand- 
ing in his class and his place on the official list of the com- 
missioned officers of the navy. 

We were rather young in those days, however, and we 
spent most of our time off duty in pleasures of different 
kinds, paying little heed to the morrow, until about the 
first of July, when an order came from Washington to 
proceed to our homes. Although the order was expected, 
it came to us as a shock. We suddenly realized that our 
midshipman life was over, with its merely partial respon- 
sibilities, and that we should soon have to take up the 
responsible duties of commissioned officers. We real- 
ized, too, that our first cruise was over, and that the 
bright flush of early youth had passed, and we said good- 
by to the Pensacola and to our good friends of Vallejo 
with hearts not wholly light. 

The order to proceed to our homes brought each one 
face to face with the fact that he did not have the money 
with which to proceed there. During the two years that 
had elapsed since we had left the Academy, our pay had 
been $1000 a year, with thirty cents a day additional for 
what was called the ''ration." This $1109.00 a year 
could buy a good deal more in those days than it can 
now, and it was enough for a young unmarried man to 
live on, especially if he had free quarters on board ship. 
But we had spent a good deal in entertaining the young 
ladi^§ of Vallejo, and in riding horses in Honolulu; so 



36 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

that every one of us was in debt. When I say ''us" I 
mean those of my class, Holmes, Dorn, Allderdice, Nos- 
trand and myself. We all had to telegraph home for 
money. I left Vallejo about $250.00 in debt. I did not 
like being in debt at all; it did not seem to harmonize 
with the gold and blue and the straight cut of my uni- 
form. Fortunately, I was able to pay off my debt in a 
very few months ; and the feeling of relief was so great 
when the last cent was paid, that I resolved never to get 
into debt again: — a resolve which I have been able to 
carry out thus far. 

A pleasant trip across the continent brought me to my 
father's home, not far outside of Chicago. On the trip 
I became acquainted with a delightful lady of the aristo- 
cratic sort, who had with her two handsome daughters, 
also of the aristocratic sort. I told them that my father's 
name was William A. Fiske, and that he was rector of a 
church. As we approached the town in which he lived, 
and were looking out the window, we passed a disrepu- 
table looking saloon, outside of which was painted in 
large letters, *'W. A. Fiske, Wines, Liquors, and Cigars." 

Not long after that we arrived at my destined station. 

For some reason, I was not expected then, and no one 
was at the station to meet me. I had a great many clubs, 
bows, arrows, spears, etc., which I had collected in the 
Hawaiian Islands. So I hired a little wagon, and in this 
wagon I drove up to the pretty parsonage with my ex- 
traordinary baggage. 



CHAPTER IV 

EXAMINATION, TYPE-WKITER, BOAT-DETACHING APPARATUS, 
TORPEDO STATION, AND THE PLY MOV TE 

I REMAINED home about three months, studying hard 
for my examination. There were many distractions, 
but though I permitted myself to be distracted consider- 
ably, I kept to my task with fair success. The transition 
from the life I had been leading for the last two years 
was sudden and almost violent. The conditions in the 
quiet, well-ordered family of an Episcopal clergyman 
were very different from those of a devil-may-care mid- 
shipman in Honolulu, and I did not find it easy to adapt 
myself at once. The first thing that I noticed was a 
tendency to use profane language, a tendency which had 
grown upon me so gradually that I had not noticed it. 
I also found it difficult to study. It seemed very dull to 
spend the afternoon sitting at a table studying gunnery 
or working out problems in navigation. For two years 
I had been living a life of constant action, constant 
change, and I now found it almost impossible to keep at 
any one thing for half an hour or think on any one sub- 
ject for half that length of time. In about two weeks, 
however, I found that I had readapted myself to my 
former life to a considerable degree, and in about a month 
I was again to all intents and purposes, so far as could be 
seen, simply the minister's oldest boy. 

Sometime in October the members of the class, thirty 
in number, reassembled at Annapolis. A rigid examina- 
tion was then given us in all branches of our profession. 
I felt rather discouraged with myself, for I did not seem 
to do very well. After the examination we were ordered 
home. For some reason that I do not now remember I 

37 



38 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

went home by way of New York. The evening after ar- 
riving there I went to the theater, and on my way in I 
bought the evening newspaper. During one of the pauses 
between the acts I glanced through the newspaper, and 
there, to my amazement, I saw my own name as number 
two in the class. Not only was I gratified with this, but 
I was delighted to see that Peters was still number one. 
We all considered him the best man in the class. He was 
president of the class and the most popular man, and the 
man whom we all expected to make the best career. But 
Peters was stricken with typhoid fever a few months 
later, and was never quite the same afterward. He be- 
came a captain in time, but he never had a captain 's com- 
mand, because, shortly after obtaining that rank, he re- 
tired voluntarily as commodore. He died in 1917. 

I went home on ' ' waiting orders, ' ' and stayed there all 
winter. I would have found it very dull, had I not in- 
vented a type-writer. One evening at Mare Island the 
thought had suddenly occurred to me — why I cannot 
imagine — that it would be much better to telegraph in 
printed letters than to telegraph in dots and dashes. The 
idea seemed so beautiful to me that I immediately set 
about devising an apparatus to accomplish it ; but I was 
confronted at once with lack of knowledge as to whether 
an electro-magnet could exert enough force to make a 
good print of a letter on paper. I had stood at the head 
of the class in electricity, but I had had no practical ex- 
perience with electric mechanism. In thinking over the 
question, I concluded to make a little apparatus in which 
the printing should be done not by electricity, but by the 
pressure of the finger ; so as to clear up all the printing 
part of the problem; and I got one of the machinists on 
board the Pensacola to make a little machine. This ma- 
chine I kept for many years. Of course, before the ma- 
chine was really designed, I realized that it might have 
a value as a sort of writing-machine without using elec- 
tricity. After I passed my examination, I took up the 
writing-machine idea in earnest, with the intention of 



EXAMINATION, TYPE-WRITER 39 

taking up the telegraphic machine later. To my surprise 
and intense disgust, I found that both ideas were old; 
that type-writers were already on the market, and that 
in all our large cities there were printing telegraphs, 
which were used principally for sending out quotations 
of stocks. 

But I went ahead with my idea, and I had a type-writer 
constructed, for which I made two applications for pat- 
ents, which were granted. My type-writer did not work 
very well, but this did not discourage me. What dis- 
couraged me more than that was the attitude of all the 
men to whom I showed my type-writer. They all said 
substantially: "Of course this doesn't work very well, 
but I dare say you could make it work all right. But I 
can't see the slightest use for such a machine, no matter 
how well you get it to work, because it would be an insult 
to a man to write him a letter with it." 

In the spring of 1877 I was ordered to the U. S. S. 
Wyoming, then alongside the dock at the Washington 
Navy-Yard. While there I heard about Edison, and I 
bought a book called '^ Electricity and the Electric Tele- 
graph, ' ' by Prescott, which I have in my library still. I 
began to study electricity, and I also became interested 
in two inventions which had just occurred to me. One 
was an arrangement whereby I thought a soldier could 
hold his musket more steadily than he could without it. 
So I made a drawing of my invention and showed it to 
the captain of the ship. He thought it was very good, 
and advised me to submit it, with an official letter, to the 
chief of the bureau of ordnance in the Navy Department, 
Washington. I prepared the letter and the drawing very 
carefully and sent them in, I got them back by return 
mail, with the endorsement, ''The invention herein re- 
ferred to is neither novel nor useful. W. N. Jeffers, 
Chief of Bureau." 

About two weeks after that I invented a machine-gun, 
and I sent the drawing and description of that to the same 
office. To my delight, I got a long letter in return from 



40 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Commodore Jeffers, praising the scheme in general and 
expressing his gratification that "a young officer should 
turn his attention so seriously and so intelligently to the 
development of an arm much needed in the service. ' ' 

By this time I had become interested in a design, which 
I had held vaguely for several years, for a ''boat-detach- 
ing apparatus"; that is, an apparatus by which a boat 
could be safely and quickly lowered from a ship in a 
seaway, and afterward hooked on and hoisted again. I 
secured the necessary authority, and had an apparatus 
made at the Washington Navy Yard and fitted in a whale- 
boat of the Wyoming. But the time for the meeting of 
the annual class at the torpedo station in Newport was at 
hand, and I was able to get orders as a member of the 
class before the apparatus was completed. So I pro- 
ceeded to Newport, and I received later a copy of the 
report of the board which tested the detaching apparatus. 
The report was very appreciative of the possibilities of 
the apparatus, but it said the apparatus required modi- 
fication, because, when the detaching-lever was pulled, the 
detaching-hooks at both ends of the boat caught on an 
obstruction and held there, with the result that the boat 
dropped only about six inches. 

The summer course at the torpedo station lasted four 
months. It was extremely interesting in every way, and 
the most experienced practical electrician in the United 
States, Professor Moses G. Farmer, was at the head of 
the electrical course. The one of his precepts which is 
the most interesting now was his mathematical demon- 
stration that, although it was practicable to have a num- 
ber of electric lights fed by an electric current, the lamps 
being "in series," one after another, as arc lamps were, 
it w^as impossible to have electric lights fed by a current 
which went through them all "in parallel" or together, 
as gas went through gas-burners. Professor Farmer 
proved mathematically that the system of lighting by 
which most buildings in the world are now lighted by 
incandescent lamps was scientifically impossible ! 



EXAMINATION, TYPE-WRITER 41 

Lieutenant Couden was assistant to Professor Farmer 
and our lecturer in electricity. One day the commandant 
of the station, Captain Breese, sent for Couden and in- 
troduced him to George Bancroft and Chief-Justice 
Waite. He told Couden that these highly distinguished 
gentlemen had done the station the honor of visiting it in 
order that they might have explained to them the way 
in which two telegraphic despatches could be made to go 
over the same wire, even in opposite directions, without 
interfering with each other. Couden took them down to 
the electrical laboratory, where he had an electrical bat- 
tery, telegraph keys, a blackboard, etc. He explained to 
these gentlemen for two hours. At the end of that time 
Chief -Justice Waite said he thought that he did get "just 
a kind of glimmer," but Mr. Bancroft said that he did 
not get even a glimmer. 

One of our most interesting exercises was with the 
Harvey "towing torpedo." Half of the class — that is, 
about fifteen in number — would go on board the old 
schooner Joseph Henry, and the other half would go on 
board the steam tug Nina. Then the Nina would try to 
hit the Joseph Henry with the torpedo, which the Nina 
towed by a long steel rope through the water. The tor- 
pedo had, roughly speaking, the shape of a boat about 
four feet long and two feet deep and one foot wide ; and 
it had a rudder screwed permanently over at such an 
angle that the torpedo did not tow directly behind the 
Nina, but about forty-five degrees to the right, and about 
one hundred yards distant. Each of us took turns in 
commanding the Nina and the Joseph Henry. One fore- 
noon I was on board the Joseph Henry, when the Nina 
tried to go across our bows from the lee side, so as to 
drag the torpedo under our bow. The officer in command 
of the Nina miscalculated, so that, instead of going ahead, 
he struck our jibboom, and he did not even then stop the 
Nina. The officer in command of the Joseph Henry or- 
dered the helm put down and he brought the vessel up 
into the wind and then around on the other tack, which 



42 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

was the proper thing to do. To accomplish this manoeu- 
ver, it was necessary to haul in the main sheet, and he 
gave orders to do so. Nobody jumped to do so except 
me. While I was hauling in the main sheet I heard a 
call, ''Stand from under!" I looked up, and saw the 
torpedo directly over me. I realized the danger, and 
turned to jump overboard; but the torpedo, the wire of 
which had become entangled in our rigging, dropped on 
me before I could get away, and I was thrown heavily to 
the deck with the weight of 330 pounds. The torpedo 
was of very irregular shape and had a number of sharp 
steel corners ; so I do not quite see why I was not killed. 
I did not even lose consciousness, but the others thought 
I was killed, and the Joseph Henry was promptly towed 
to Newport by the Nina. I was not very badly hurt, and 
in about a month I was out on the Joseph Henry again. 
I was standing on the forecastle the first day after my 
partial recovery when the two vessels came together, and 
I realized that I was not wholly recovered, for I became 
intensely nervous. To hide it, I jumped up on the bill- 
board, which was a foolish thing to do, and nearly cost 
me my foot ; for the Nina picked up the sharp pee of our 
anchor as she forged ahead along our side, and dropped 
it almost in contact with my foot. 

From the torpedo station I was ordered home, and 
afterward to the U. S. S. Plymouth at the Navy- Yard at 
Norfolk. By this time I had devised a modification of 
my detaching-apparatus. I succeeded in getting author- 
ity to have an apparatus made in the navy-yard, and 
secured in a whaleboat of the Plymouth. 

Shortly after, we dropped down to Hampton Roads, 
had our inspection by the commander-in-chief, and then 
sailed for St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies. The 
Plymouth was an extremely pretty ship of about 1500 
tons displacement, with both steam power and sail power ; 
but she rolled a great deal, and was so constructed below 
the water-line that it was almost impossible to keep her 
clean. The water which gradually leaked into her, and 



EXAMINATION, TYPE-WRITER 43 

was swashed about as the ship rolled, made a smell 
that was exceedingly disagreeable, especially in heavy 
weather, when we had to keep the hatches battened down 
to keep water from going below. 

Our stay at St. Thomas was pleasant, though hot. 
From there we went to Colon, then called Aspinwall, at 
the Atlantic end of the Panama Railroad. The change 
was not at all for the better so far as our comfort was 
concerned. At St. Thomas we had been in a pleasant, 
smooth, land-locked harbor, but at Aspinwall we were in 
a roadstead, where the ship rolled continually. The 
sailors had a song of which a few words were 

And there you roll and roll and roll 
And damn your eyes and cuss your soul. 

There were a few other lines, which I do not remember, 
but each stanza ended with 

In Aspinhole, in Aspinhole. 

Aspinwall was certainly a miserable place, hot and un- 
healthy in the highest degree. Chagres fever, yellow 
fever, malaria, and brandy-drinking combined to cause 
a frightful mortality and a general air of desperation. 
I do not remember much about it clearly, but I remem- 
ber that there was an idea that bananas and brandy did 
not go together, and that one man is supposed to have 
said to another, '^You eat that banana and drink that 
glass of brandy, and I '11 bet you a hundred dollars 
you 're dead in five minutes." 

In the steerage mess of the Plymouth was a very amus- 
ing man named Marbury. I told the mess one day of a 
plan which I had submitted to the bureau of ordnance 
two years before, which I had thought would be a great 
improvement over the clumsy apparatus the navy used 
then, by which small torpedoes on the ends of spars were 
shoved out over the bow of a steam launch against an 
enemy ship at the water-line, and exploded there. This 
was the plan which Lieutenant Gushing of our navy had 



44 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

so bravely and successfully carried out against the rebel 
ram Albemarle. My plan was to have half a dozen short 
mortars or eprouvettes on each side of the steam launch, 
which could be fired together by electricity by one man ; 
each eprouvette to have in it a shell filled with dynamite 
or other high explosive. The plan was to have the steam 
launch run rapidly past a ship, about one hundred feet 
distant, and to fire the shells at the ship in such a way 
that they would hit her, drop into the water, and explode 
as soon as they had sunk a few feet. I thought this was 
a very fine plan, and I still think that it was much better 
than any plan then used. But it struck Marbury and the 
rest of the mess as very funny, and occasionally after- 
ward, in the evenings after dinner, Marbury would give 
an exhibition of Fiske chained to the floor a few years 
later, in a padded cell, in a lunatic asylum, clanking his 
chains and yelling, ''I 'm a dynamite shell fired from an 
eprouvette." 

One morning a party of us took the train and made the 
trip that none of us was ever to forget, from Aspinwall 
on the Atlantic side to Panama on the Pacific side. We 
proceeded in a southeast direction through miles of tropi- 
cal underbrush, moist, hot, and in every way unpleasant. 
Suddenly we reached elevated ground near Miraflores, 
and a scene of startling beauty burst upon us. The view 
was no longer shut in by tropical trees and underbrush, 
but extended far over the Pacific Ocean, and embraced 
the town of Panama and many ships at anchor. That 
night we slept in a hotel that was far from good, but which 
did not roll or thump or creak. 

From Aspinwall we steamed north to Norfolk, and at 
some time in April found ourselves again alongside a 
wharf at the navy-yard. During the trip many trials 
had been held of my detaching-apparatus, at sea and in 
port, and they were so successful in every way that an 
extremely favorable report was made by a board of offi- 
cers, and forwarded by the captain with his approval. 
Armed with this report, I went to Washington and called 



EXAMINATION, TYPE-WRITER 45 

on the chief of bureau of equipment of the Navy Depart- 
ment, Commodore Shufeldt. He told me that he was 
very glad indeed that I had invented such a good de- 
taching-apparatus, because one was needed; and he said 
he would have me ordered to the navy-yard, New York, 
so that I could have its manufacture taken up by some 
manufacturing firm. He said there was one other detach- 
ing-apparatus used in the navy, invented by Lieutenant 
Maxwell Wood, and that he wanted to try out his and 
mine in competition with each other by putting each of 
them in several ships. He added that he had found, from 
his experience, that work of that kind could be much bet- 
ter done and in quicker time by private firms than by 
navy-yards. ''Besides," he said, "it gives the inventor 
a little royalty ; and that acts as a stimulus to other offi- 
cers to invent things." 



CHAPTER V 

NEW YOKK NAVY- YARD, COLORADO, ELECTRIC LOG AND 
POWHATAN 

THE commodore had me ordered to the equipment de- 
partment of the Navy- Yard at Brooklyn, New York, 
and I reported to the commandant there in a few days. 
This was in the spring of 1878, and although the navy 
had not yet got down as far as it had a few years later, 
it had sunk to a very low ebb. The navy-yard covered 
an enormous tract of ground, on which there were a few 
large buildings, and over which a general air of peace- 
fulness and quiet reigned. A few people — officers, 
sailors, employees, and watchmen — ^walked about it lei- 
surely, and on Saturday afternoons and Sunday after- 
noons many young women w^ould come do^\^l to see the 
sailors in the ships. 

I have been at the New York Navy- Yard many times 
in the forty years that have intervened, and every Satur- 
day and Sunday afternoon the same young women have 
come there that came in 1878. At least they have seemed 
the same to me. Perhaps my feeling is like that which 
Caesar is said to have expressed when he soliloquized, **I 
grow older every day, but the crowd on the Appian Way 
is always of the same age." 

I reported to Commander Wiltse, who was in charge 
of the equipment department, and I found that he had 
already two assistants, Lieutenant Boyd and Master Sea- 
bury. I was to be his third assistant. The chief clerk's 
name, I think, was Ferguson, and he was the kind of man 
that now is called efficient. I discovered in a few days 
that Mr. Ferguson ran the entire machine ; that the equip- 
ment officer signed the papers which were put in front 

46 



NEW YORK NAVY-YARD 47 

of him by Mr. Ferguson, and that the three assistants 
did nothing whatever, because there was nothing what- 
ever for them to do. The navy was almost comatose. 
All the energy and life that it had had when the Civil 
War ended only thirteen years before was nearly gone. 
The idea of loyalty and the sense of official duty were as 
strong as ever, but there was nothing to do. The ships 
were the same year by year, and so were the drills. So 
there was nothing to learn, and as the ships were slowly 
being reduced in numbers, there were more officers than 
the necessities of each day's work demanded. Boyd, 
Seabury, and I idled away the days reading newspapers 
and playing ' ' mumpletipeg. " 

Separated from the navy-yard proper by a channel 
perhaps two hundred yards wide was the ''cobdock." 
Alongside the cobdock was the big old steam frigate 
Colorado; and on the other side of the cobdock from the 
Colorado, and about one hundred yards distant, was the 
old line-of-battle ship Vermont. These two ships to- 
gether were under the command of Captain Gherardi, 
who had been my captain in the Pensacola, and were 
used as receiving ships. I received permission from the 
commandant to live on board the Colorado. There I had 
a comfortable state-room and lived in the wardroom 
mess. I stayed there for about ten months, and I have 
never had a pleasanter time. The mess was composed 
of about fifteen men, including a chaplain, two doctors, 
a marine officer, two engineers, and eight or nine line 
officers. As we were all in good health, had little to do, 
and had had experiences all over the world which we 
could talk about, we constituted a delightful club. There 
was some drinking, but it was almost wholly of beer, and 
no one ever became intoxicated. For the most part we 
spent the days on board, and in the evenings we would 
sally forth to make calls in New York or Brooklyn. 

Going to New York was rather a serious thing in those 
days, because one had to go in a slow horse-car to the 
Fulton Ferry, usually wait about five minutes for the 



48 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

next boat to start, then take the trip across, which lasted 
about seven minutes, and then go in a horse-car or stage 
in New York to our place of destination. Coming back 
was a still more serious undertaking, especially in cold 
weather, because the stages did not run very close to- 
gether, and neither did the ferry-boats. But in those 
days people knew nothing about automobiles or tele- 
phones or Brooklyn bridges, and they were not made 
unhappy by slow transportation and communication, be- 
cause that was what they were accustomed to. 

In accordance with the suggestion of Commodore Shu- 
feldt, I looked about for a manufacturer to supply my 
detaching-apparatus to the bureau of equipment, and I 
soon found a firm on Dey Street, whom I will call ' ' Smith 
Brothers, ' ' because that was not their name. They made 
a number of apparatus, for which I got a royalty of 
$12.50 each; but in less than a year I discovered that 
they were not putting good metal into the apparatus, and 
so I took advantage of a clause in the contract to close 
my agreement with them at the end of the year. Then 
I made a present of my patent to the bureau of equip- 
ment. Then a curious thing happened, in that the de- 
partment soon ceased the plan of putting one apparatus 
of mine and one of Wood's into each ship, and put only 
those of Wood, which were made by an outside manu- 
facturer. For some reason that I do not know, the 
navy-yards began to make my apparatus again a few 
years later, and to put it into ships, a procedure which 
they continued for a few years and then stopped again. 

The firm of Smith Brothers was composed of two men 
who were brothers, but who were constantly quarreling 
with each other. I never knew them to agree at any time 
except one afternoon when, to my surprise, I found them 
in agreement in roundly berating a man who was talking 
with them. When this man went out I said, ''Who is 
that?" and one of them answered, ''That 's our brother." 

I now became interested in an invention which I made, 
which I called an electric log, whereby a ship would tow 



NEW YORK NAVY-YARD 49 

a sort of propeller by an electric wire ; and every time the 
propeller made a revolution it would actuate a mechanism 
on board the ship, which at the end of every tenth of a 
mile would make an indication on a dial. I made some 
preliminary experiments at my own expense, which were 
so successful that the bureau of navigation of the Navy 
Department allotted me a small, but sufficient, sum of 
money with which to continue the experiments. I worked 
on this matter for two or three years. 

One evening Lieutenant Boyd invited me to dinner at 
his house in New York. He had married a wealthy young 
woman, and had a very attractive residence. There was 
only one other guest, Mr. Park Benjamin, a classmate of 
Boyd's, who had resigned, and who was then editor of 
The Scientific American, though he was only twenty- 
eight years old. I have never been so fascinated by any- 
body in my life as I was that evening by Mr. Benjamin. 
He was by far the most brilliant man I had ever met, and 
I was carried away by his wit and epigrams and by his 
amazing knowledge of everything, it seemed to me, that 
there was to know. 

A few days later I called on him at The Scientific 
'American offices, and told him that I wanted to resign 
from the navy, because there was no chance in it of hav- 
ing any sort of career of any kind. I told him I was 
willing to do anything to get a start ; for instance, to go 
on The Scientific American in any capacity whatever, 
including that of office boy. Benjamin told me that there 
was no chance anywhere for anybody except the chance 
to work like the devil; and that I had a good job, and had 
better hold on to it with both hands. 

That summer there was a small epidemic of yellow 
fever at the yards. As I recollect it, nobody ever found 
out where it came from. Yellow fever was rife in the 
West Indies at that time, and the very general opinion 
was that somebody had brought the germs to the navy- 
yard from the West Indies in his clothing. 

While in the Colorado, the idea occurred to me that, if 



50 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

a ship would tow a small metal plate, secured at a certain 
angle to the towing-line, the plate would gradually de- 
scend below the surface of the water, and if the water was 
shallow, it could be made to strike the bottom, and give an 
alarm-signal on board ship. As with most of my inven- 
tions, I never got the opportunity to develop it ; but it was 
brought out later under the name of the ''sentry lead," 
and used for many years, until Sir William Thomson's 
sounding-machine was perfected. One day I went into 
the office of the commandant of the navy-yard, and ex- 
plained my scheme, and asked permission to use the navy- 
yard tug to try it. The commandant said, ' * No. ' ' A few 
days later I was ordered to go with him to make an offi- 
cial call on a French flag-ship, anchored near the Bat- 
tery. I went with the commandant in the tug, and we 
towed his barge astern; so that, when we got near the 
French flag-ship, the commandant could get into his 
barge and be pulled to the flag-ship by the sailors in the 
barge. When we arrived at the proper place, I had the 
tug stopped ; and I told the coxswain of the barge to come 
alongside the tug. The coxswain was very lubberly about 
doing it; and for this reason, and because I was in bad 
humor at having to make the trip with the commandant, 
I gave the coxswain my opinion about his seamanship 
in real old navy style, with a few expletives as seasoning. 
Just as I finished my remarks, I realized, to my horror, 
that the commandant was standing at my left elbow. He 
put his hand on my shoulder, with a little pat, and said, 
"Mr. Fiske, you may have the tug whenever you want 
it." 

That autumn Seabury and I tried to invent an instru- 
ment by which we could measure the altitude of the sun 
when the horizon could not be seen. That is, we tried 
to invent an "artificial horizon." We made two instru- 
ments, one in which a pendulum was used, and the other 
in which a spirit level was used. We had spent nearly 
all our spare money on this when Seabury told me one 
morning that he had been at dinner the night before at 



NEW YORK NAVY-YARD 51 

the house of a very prominent patent lawyer, to whom 
he had explained our scheme ; and that the patent lawyer 
had then told him that he had better not spend another 
cent or another minute of time on it, because it was scien- 
tifically wrong in principle. He told Seabury that hun- 
dreds of inventors had tried the same thing, but that it 
would never work on board of a ship because it would be 
affected not only by gravity, but by any change in veloc- 
ity and by the rolling and pitching. For instance, if a 
glass of water were moved horizontally on a table, the 
level of the water would be disturbed even though the 
angle of the glass were not changed. Now the interest- 
ing part of this matter is not so much this particular inci- 
dent, as the fact that, during the forty years that have 
intervened, inventions embodying the same erroneous 
idea have continually been brought to my attention. Al- 
most exactly forty years after my conversation with Sea- 
bury, a man taking the scientific course at Yale Univer- 
sity, and in the senior year, submitted elaborate draw- 
ings to me based on the same old misconception. 

On the first of January four of us concluded to make 
New Year's calls in Brooklyn and New York, and in order 
to do so with becoming splendor, we decided to array our- 
selves in full-dress uniform. Early in the afternoon we 
called on the handsome daughter of Medical Inspector 
Bloodgood at the Brooklyn Hospital, and were much 
gratified to receive invitations from her to attend a '*ger- 
man, ' ' or cotillion, which she was about to give, and which 
I was then asked to lead. The german was held in due 
course, and there I met an extremely pretty girl with 
beautiful red hair, named Miss Josephine Harper, a 
daughter of one of the firm of Harper & Brothers. The 
hair of this pretty lady is now somewhat gray, and she 
has been my wife for six and thirty years. 

The following February, I was ordered to the United 
States Ship Powhatan, then at the Norfolk Navy- Yard. 
Just as I was leaving the Colorado, little Walter Gher- 
ardi, now a captain in the navy, came on deck, dragging 



52 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

by a string the type-writer which had cost me so many 
hours of thought and so many hundred dollars. 

I went to Norfolk in a boat from Washington, and in 
the early forenoon I found myself standing in the bow of 
the boat looking ahead toward Norfolk, and especially 
towards the Powhatan, which I could discern at anchor 
a few miles ahead. Alongside of me I saw a handsome 
elderly gentleman, whom I recognized as Captain Fille- 
brown, her commanding officer. I introduced myself to 
him, and found him very courteous and pleasant. He 
was talking to me in an agreeable way when suddenly he 
stopped, and looked at his ship with an intense stare. 
Then he grasped my arm and exclaimed excitedly: 
** What 's that damn fool been doing now ! I left the ship 
only a week ago, and the masts were white and the yards 
were black ; and now he has painted them all yellow ! ' ' 

I found, after getting on board, that the captain and 
executive officer disagreed professionally about almost 
everything; and that every time the captain went away 
for a few days, leaving the executive officer in command, 
the executive officer would take advantage of the oppor- 
tunity to make all sorts of changes to suit his own ideas. 
The captain was a delightful, kindly old gentleman, but 
not burning up with energy; whereas the executive offi- 
cer, Lieutenant-Commander McCalla, was a man who 
even in those days continually used the word ''efficient," 
was very efficient himself, and was determined that every- 
body in the Powhatan should be efficient, including the 
captain. In those days the printed regulations were few 
and not very clearly expressed. Every ship was a little 
world by itself, and was regulated almost wholly by the 
captain, though in some cases conditions occurred like 
those in the Powhatan, when the captain was indolent and 
the executive officer energetic. Then things became very 
interesting and sometimes amusing. 

Mr. McCalla became much interested in my electric log. 
The first time I tried it he came on deck to see it. I low- 
ered the propeller by its wire, and some other kind of 



THE POWHATAN 53 

small rope with it, the precise arrangement of which I do 
not recollect. The wire and the rope ran out together 
at high speed, and shortly after the propeller reached 
the water they began to twist up together in a remark- 
able fashion, and the wire and the rope became entangled 
with our feet. McCalla sang out lustily, and a sailor 
came up with a battle ax and cut the wire and rope, and 
permitted us to extricate our feet. McCalla then walked 
away without making any complimentary remark, and 
I did not try this particular invention again for a con- 
siderable time. 

The Poivhatan was an old side-wheeler that had been 
used in Commodore Perry's visit to Japan, and it was 
the most comfortable old tub in the service. Everybody 
knew she was not safe, and about once a year the Navy 
Department ordered her to be put out of commission. 
Then loud protests would go up from the admiral and 
the captain, reinforced by reports from naval construc- 
tors to the effect that she would last another year; and 
the department would rescind the order. Shortly before 
I joined, the old ship had almost gone down in an ordinary 
gale. But the dangers were soon forgotten, and the com- 
forts of the old floating club-house sufficed to keep her 
from the junk-heap. 

Naval officers in those days were accustomed mostly 
to work out in deep water, and were not one tenth as 
skilful in coastwise navigation as they are now. One 
beautiful afternoon we were going down Chesapeake 
Bay, and it became necessary to go around a buoy that 
was placed at the southeast end of York Spit. It was 
necessary to pass the buoy in such a way that it would be 
on our starboard, or right hand : if we tried to pass it in 
such a way that it would be on our left hand, we would 
run aground on the spit, which extended over toward the 
mainland. In this emergency the captain took charge. 
He stood on the hurricane-deck with a chart in his hand. 
The procedure was as follows: The captain would say 
"Starboard" to the executive officer; the executive offi- 



54 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

cer would say '''Starboard" to the navigator; the navi- 
gator would say "Starboard" to the officer of the deck; 
the officer of the deck would say "Starboard" to the as- 
sistant officer of the deck, who in this case was Ensign 
Fiske; Ensign Fiske would shout "Starboard" to Ensign 
Walling, who stood alongside the quartermaster at the 
wheel on the quarter-deck; Ensign Walling would say 
"Starboard" to the quartermaster; the quartermaster 
would say "Starboard" to the man at the wheel, and then 
the man at the wheel would put the helm astarboard. 

This performance continued for a considerable time 
that bright and sunny afternoon, until a minute or so 
after the captain had given the order "Port," and the 
order had passed down the chain, and the helm had been 
put aport. But a minute or so after he gave the order 
' ' Port, ' ' hang, hump, and we knew we had run ashore on 
the spit that connected the buoy with the mainland. How 
this result had been achieved I have never been able to 
ascertain. 

We backed as hard as we could, and "rolled ship" by 
making the men sally from one side to the other, but 
without avail. Then we carried an anchor out astern, 
with a hawser to the ship, and put the hawser around the 
capstan. Then the engines backed hard, and the men 
hove around on the capstan, but all to no purpose. Then 
the captain sent a boat ashore with a telegram to Wash- 
ington, asking for assistance. Next day or the day after 
lighters came down from Washington. Then we worked 
all day and well into the night getting out guns so as to 
lighten the ship. Finally, after nearly three days of 
working and hauling on ropes, mostly in the rain, we 
got the ship off again. 

After getting our guns back on board, we steamed down 
to Hampton Roads and anchored there. Anchored very 
near us was another ship, though which one I do not re- 
member. At that time signaling in the navy, especially 
in the night-time, was an undeveloped art. At night the 
principal means was by waving back and forth, accord- 



THE POWHATAN 55 

ing to a preconcerted code, a lamp that burned oil. 
This was very difficult, especially at sea; and when the 
ship was rolling and the wind was blowing hard, it was 
virtually impossible. About this time Lieutenant Very 
of our navy invented the so-called ''Very Signals," which 
are still used in all navies, and which are very much like 
Koman candles, except that the ''stars" are projected 
from pistols. This means of signaling is very good in 
some ways, especially when long-distance signaling is 
required; but it was very slow then, and, for reasons 
which it would take some time to explain, was liable to 
great errors. One night the Powhatan signaled some 
message to the ship near us. It was not really neces- 
sary to signal, because the night was so calm that a man 
with a good voice could have shouted the message, and 
it would have been heard on board the other ship. But 
signaling is often done for purposes of practice, and so 
the message was signaled by the Very Signals. The 
surprising answer came back, "Our commander is dead." 
So the Powhatan again signaled the same message as be- 
fore. To this a long-drawn-out answer came back, ' ' Our 
commander is ill." The Powhatan again repeated the 
original message, and the answer came back, ' ' Our com- 
mander is absent. " As more than two hours had already 
been consumed, a little dinghy was despatched with a 
note, explaining what the message was, and asking what 
the answer had been intended to be. The dinghy re- 
turned in ten minutes with a note saying that the an- 
swer returned each time had been, "I do not under- 
stand. ' ' 

This experience gave me an idea about signaling, which 
I explained to Mr. McCalla, and to try which I secured his 
permission to make a crude apparatus. My idea, as I 
explained it to him, was to put a lamp behind an aper- 
ture which could be closed and opened by a shutter, and 
to operate the shutter by the hand in accordance with a 
preconcerted code; so that, if the beam of light were 
directed toward any point, a man at that point would 



56 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

see a number of flashes, which he could read just as a 
telegraph operator reads a telegraph-sounder. For the 
purpose of ship use, my idea was to put the lantern in 
a box, and support the box in front of an operator by a 
strap over the shoulders. We arrived at Annapolis 
shortly afterward, and I got permission to take my lamp 
and box a couple of miles away from the ship in a 
dinghy, and to signal from there to the ship. So I went 
out and signaled toward the ship. It seemed to me that 
the scheme worked very nicely, and I fancied that the 
people on board must be pleased, to see what an effi- 
cient system of signaling had been devised. But I found 
on my return that nobod}^ had taken the slightest in- 
terest in it, although they had seen the flashes plainly, and 
thaf Fiske and his soap-box" had been a subject of great 
merriment. The idea was carried out afterward, how- 
ever, and is now used in all navies in numberless forms. 

From Hampton Roads we went to Norfolk, and an- 
chored perhaps a mile from the navy-yard. One after- 
noon the executive officer sent for me and told me to 
take charge of a steam launch with a large scow in tow, 
which was then alongside of the starboard gangway; to 
proceed with them to the navy-yard; to hoist out of the 
hold of the old ship Pawnee a large water-tank, and to 
bring the water-tank to the Powhatan. I got the tank 
out of the hold without much difficulty by the aid of a 
derrick and a dozen sailors, and lowered it into the scow. 
The tank had a hole in the top called a '* manhole," which 
was, roughly speaking, an ellipse in shape, about eighteen 
inches long and nine inches wide. Noting that the man- 
hole-plate was not over the manhole, and seeing a man- 
hole-plate lying on the floor of the hold where the tank 
had been, I took the manhole plate back to the ship also. 

The next morning I w^as called very early with the 
disquieting information that the executive officer wished 
to see me on the quarter-deck immediately. I went there 
at once, and saluted the executive officer, who returned 
the salute. Then the following conversation ensued. 



THE POWHATAN 57 

' ' Good morning, Mr. Fiske. ' ' 

''Good morning, sir." 

''Did you bring that tank back to the ship?" 

"Yes, sir." 

' ' Did you bring that manhole-plate also ? ' * 

"Yes, sir." 

"Put the manhole-plate over the manhole." 

I compared the size of the two with my eye, and saw 
that the manhole-plate was about half the size of the 
manhole which it was designed to cover ; so I said, "It is 
too small, sir." 

"Take the steam launch immediately, sir, and get a 
manhole-plate of the correct size." 

"Aye, aye, sir." 

We proceeded from Norfolk on a cruise around the 
island of Cuba. I do not remember much about it ex- 
cept that it was intensely hot, that we cruised very slowly 
indeed, about four knots an hour, and that there was al- 
most nothing whatever to do. There were a pleasant lot 
of us, however, in the steerage, — about a dozen, — and 
we whiled away the hours in "chucking dice" for beer, 
and then drinking the beer. Previous to starting out, 
each of us had subscribed a little money, and with the 
aggregate amount we bought some white enamel paint 
and some gold and blue and red paint also. Then we 
transformed ourselves into artists, and painted that 
steerage in the most wonderful way. The crowd of fel- 
lows in that steerage at that time was the most united, 
joyous lot of young men I was ever with. It would be 
invidious to compare one with another, but the man who 
was the most popular was the young doctor, Daniel 
Guiteras, who united with a boyish and delightful buoy- 
ancy an ability to sing pretty Spanish songs, and the 
extraordinary talent of imitating a brass-band with his 
mouth. 

Our tiresome trip came to an end, as tiresome trips 
always have done, and we soon found ourselves at anchor 
off West Twenty-Third Street, New York. In those days 



58 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the river was not so full as it is now, and many sail-boats 
used to go back and forth across its surface, especially 
on Sunday afternoons. One Sunday afternoon when the 
breeze was fresh, a pleasure-boat, coming near the Pow- 
hatan, capsized, and dumped four women and three men 
into the water. The tide was running swiftly, but we 
got our steam launch to them quickly, and brought them 
all on board the Powhatan. A wet and frightened set 
they were. We put each one of them into the bunk of 
some officer who had gone ashore, and sent their clothes 
down into the fire-room, to be dried by the heat of the 
furnaces under the boilers. 

Not long after that we were coaling ship. About half 
past nine one forenoon we had just discharged one 
lighter ; and it was lying alongside the port side, when I 
was told to tow it ashore by our steam launch to a dock 
in Hoboken and secure it there. As the wind was blow- 
ing fresh, and the tide was running strong toward the 
southward, another launch was called for from the Swa- 
tara, near by. The launch came promptly, and Ensign 
Brumby was in charge. Brumby was, years afterward, 
the flag lieutenant of Admiral Dewey, and it was he who 
first hoisted the flag of the United States over the Philip- 
pine Islands at Manila. 

Brumby was junior to me, so I took charge. I secured 
the Powhatan's steam launch at the forward end of the 
lighter, and the Swatara's at the rear end, and told 
Brumby to stand on the scow abreast of his launch, while 
I stood abreast of mine. Then we cast off, and away we 
went. The wind was blowing half a gale, and the lighter 
was so light and so high, that it acted somewhat like a 
leaf on the ground. We waltzed around on the surface 
of the river in the most bewildering way, going ahead, 
then sidewise, and then back, turning to the right, and 
then reversing, all at the whim of the wind, restrained 
by whatever force our little launches could exert. At 
one period I saw just below us the daintiest possible white 
steam yacht, with booms rigged out both sides, and a boat 



THE POWHATAN 59 

at each boom; and in my mind's eye I saw my monstrous 
lighter smashing the yacht up like kindling wood, and 
being smashed itself, and Brumby and me, with our steam 
launches, involved in a general ruin. But by means of 
backing with one steam launch, and going ahead with the 
other, we managed just to miss the yacht, and then to 
turn round and round, and drift past the yacht mean- 
while, to the evident amazement of the people on board 
of it. 

Shortly after this I was detached and ordered home, 
and I again made the violent transition from life in the 
steerage of a man-of-war to the sober quiet of a parson- 
age. 

I spent most of my time there in the daytime, as I had 
always done, in my father's library. He had a good 
library, and I found there that peculiar and satisfying 
companionship with the great and good people of the 
past and present that can be found nowhere, except in 
a library. 

As the days went by there, I thought a great deal about 
the most consr)icuous figure in the Powhatan, the execu- 
tive oflficer, Lieutenant-Commander McCalla. We all 
hated him when I left, but I began to see that the prin- 
cipal reason was that McCalla had a much higher ideal of 
duty than we had and a much clearer view of what a 
navy ought to be. In later years all officers came to 
realize this, and to realize also that, despite certain de- 
fects of character and an undue arbitrariness, McCalla 
was a man far in advance of his time. 



CHAPTER VI 

LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA, MAKRIAGE, 
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 

I STAYED at home about three months, passing the 
time agreeably, but very quietly indeed. About the 
first of October I realized that I was not gaining much 
professional experience, and so I applied for orders to 
sea. In those days there were not enough ships in com- 
mission to employ many officers, and the nearest to sea 
that I could get was the receiving ship Colorado, aboard 
of which I had lived before, and which was still moored 
to the wharf at the navy-yard in New York. 

Captain Gherardi was still on board with his family, 
which consisted of a delightful wife and two fine boys, 
Bancroft and Walter. Bancroft became an electrical 
engineer, and has been for many years now in charge of 
all the telephones of Brooklyn ; Walter is captain in the 
navy. About the time that I rejoined the Colorado, Mrs. 
Gherardi told me that at dinner the night before Ban- 
croft had said to his younger brother: **You ought not 
eat up all the dessert, Walter. You ought to save some 
for Bridget, because she will die first." Bridget had 
been the nurse of Mrs. Gherardi when she was a child, 
and had afterward been the nurse to Mrs. Gherardi 's 
children. A few years after the time of the admonition 
given by Bancroft to his brother, his prophecy was ful- 
filled, and Bridget died. She left five thousand dollars 
to Bancroft and a like amount to Walter, the savings of a 
lifetime. 

While on board the Powhatan I had invented two kinds 
of mechanical lead-pencils and secured patents on them. 
Eberhard Faber now undertook the manufacture of both 

60 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 61 

lead-pencils ; at my suggestion one was named the ' ' Cito- 
graphic ' ' and the other the ' ' Monitor. ' ' The Citographic 
was put on the market first, but was very speedily taken 
off, because of an injunction secured by the American 
Lead Pencil Company on the perfectly correct ground 
that it infringed the claims of a patent which I had not 
known about, but which covered the well-known lead- 
pencil in which a lead moves freely in a tube, and is 
clamped and undamped by operating a spring with the 
finger. With the consent of Mr. Faber, I sold my patent 
to the American Lead Pencil Company for the price of 
the patent and attorney's fees. The Monitor lead-pencil 
came along later, and it at first promised to be a tre- 
mendous success, for it sold at an increasing rate during 
the first three months, at the end of which my royalty 
was a thousand dollars. Mr. Faber was much encour- 
aged, and started to construct the machines to get the 
pencils out in large numbers, when suddenly the sales 
fell flat, for the excellent reason that it had been found 
that if anybody dropped a Monitor lead-pencil, the lead 
would break. No way was ever found to rectify the diffi- 
culty, and the people soon afterward forgot about the 
Monitor lead-pencil. 

During the previous year and a half I had gone ahead, 
whenever an opportunity offered, with my electric log; 
and sometime in the autumn I secured permission to 
make a trip in the old side-wheel steamer Tallapoosa, 
which then went up and down the coast carrying navy 
freight under the command of Lieutenant McRitchie, an 
officer who had come into the navy during the Civil War. 
McRitchie was an excellent seaman and a fine man in 
every way, but he was a little excitable. A few months 
before this time, when alongside of the wharf at the 
Washington Navy-Yard, the Secretary of the Navy had 
come aboard, and McRitchie conceived the idea of show- 
ing him the beauties of my boat-detaching apparatus, 
which had been fitted to a whaleboat of the Tallapoosa. 
McRitchie climbed up into the boat, which hung about 



62 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

twenty feet above the water, and said, "Now, Mr. Secre- 
tary, you see I take hold of this lever with my right hand, 
and pull out the safety-pin with my left hand, and then 
pull up the lever. ' ' In his excitement McRitchie did pull 
up the lever. Down went the boat with a crash, and 
McRitchie in it. They put McRitchie into his bunk care- 
fully, and he was all right again in a few days. 

I towed my electric log astern of the Tallapoosa with 
gratifying results from New York to Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire. The Tallapoosa at that time was described 
in the newspapers as ''the terror of the seas," because 
she always seemed to be colliding with some schooner. 
Sometimes a newspaper would print, ''Warning to 
Mariners; the Tallapoosa is going to sea!" The officers 
on board the Tallapoosa said the schooners were always 
getting in front of the Tallapoosa in order that there 
might be a collision, and consequent big damages from 
the Government. 

I remember only two incidents of the trip. One inci- 
dent was being aroused from my slumbers in the night 
by a stentorian voice shouting down the engine-room 
hatch: "Back her! Back her! Back her like hell!" 
The other incident was meeting a classmate of mine who 
had been bilged from the naval academy for striking a 
colored man with a hatchet, and, in company with him, a 
young marine officer. We had dinner together at some 
restaurant in Portsmouth, and my companions began to 
drink so copiously that it put me on my guard, and I 
drank very little. But I had a fine time that evening 
trying to keep them from such conduct as would get 
them arrested. Finally I got them safe down to the 
waterfront and on to a float, from which they were to 
get into a boat to take them to the opposite side of the 
river. The tide was rushing by very fast, and the float 
and the boat were jumping about so that I became fear- 
ful that they might fall overboard and be drowned. My 
anxiety was not allayed by their getting into a dispute, 
then into a fight, and rolling about together on the float. 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 63 

That they ever got into the boat safe one must attribute 
to the Providence which is said to watch over drunken 
men. 

Shortly after my return to New York, I met at the 
navy yard one day Captain Fillebrown's successor as 
captain of the Powhatan, Captain Braine, and he gave 
me a ticket which he had just received for the Charity 
Ball in New York. I went to the ball, and there, to my 
delight, I met a very pretty young lady with beautiful 
and abundant red hair, dressed in a light blue dress, 
the same Miss Josephine Harper whom I had met a year 
before. She sat in the box with Ex-Grovernor Tilden, 
but she descended from the box at frequent intervals to 
dance with me. 

Shortly after this my promotion to the grade of master 
became due, and I presented myself in Washington for 
examination there. I passed the professional, mental, 
and moral examination without trouble but the doctors 
hesitated sometime about passing me physically. They 
said I had organic heart disease, but that it had not 
progressed very far. Finally, they agreed to pass me, 
but warned me against taking any violent exercise or 
becoming excited in any way. Anybody who has been 
told by a physician after careful examination that he 
had organic disease will know how I felt. 

I went back to New York, and resumed my pleasant 
life on board the Colorado a considerably sobered man. 
We began about that time to give a series of hops on 
board, and to these hops we invited, among others, Miss 
Josephine Harper. She came, and on leaving invited 
me to call, giving as her address 562 Fifth Avenue, north- 
west corner of Forty-Sixth Street. I called shortly 
after, and found that she lived in a beautiful house, amid 
all the surroundings of wealth and taste, with a very at- 
tractive father and an extremely pretty mother. Shortly 
before this one of my relatives had got into a scrape 
such that, in order to get him out, I had agreed to let 
him have a sum of money every month. The result was 



64 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

that my finances were in very bad condition, and I real- 
ized that I would have to go through the winter with an 
old and rather shabby spring overcoat. About this time 
I was invited to dinner one Sunday by Mr. Harper. I 
did not think much about my overcoat until I was invited 
to go to church with the family at St. Thomas 's ; but I 
can remember now how uncomfortable I felt walking up 
Fifth Avenue that bright winter afternoon in a shabby 
light overcoat, in company with a beautiful and beauti- 
fully dressed young lady and the head of the firm of 
Harper & Brothers. 

Soon after that I realized that I was becoming ex- 
tremely interested in a young lady who had been brought 
up with little need for expert knowledge as to the value 
of a dollar, and that it was the worst kind of folly for 
me to think about her at all except in the most matter- 
of-fact way. I determined several times to apply for 
orders to sea, but I never did apply. Instead of that I 
kept calling at 562, and late in the afternoon of St. 
Valentine's Day I found myself leaving the house with 
the happy, yet stunning, realization that I was engaged 
to be married! 

I was in no position to be engaged to anybody, espe- 
cially to a young lady habituated to wealth. My pocket- 
book was almost flat, and I was at the bottom of the 
master's list in the navy, with no prospect whatever 
in life except that of very slow promotion, poor pay, and 
a lifelong alternation of three years on shore and three 
years at sea. This prospect was gloomy enough ; but as 
it was mostly of a distant future, it did not concern me 
so much as did the immediate situation, and the problem 
of how I was to be able to act as an engaged young man 
in New York, buy an engagement-ring with a diamond 
in it, and go through the expenses of getting married 
without any money. I was saved about two weeks after 
my engagement occurred by receiving, as royalty on my 
lead pencil, a check for a thousand dollars from Faber. 

In the early part of October I was broken away from 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 65 

my pleasant sojourn in New York and the society of my 
fiancee by orders to the old sailing ship Saratoga, the 
same one in which I had made my plebe cruise. I re- 
mained in the Saratoga only three months, during which 
we took part in the ceremonies of the centennial celebra- 
tion of the surrender of Cornwallis. The principal fea- 
ture of interest in the cruise to me was the acquaintance- 
ship I formed with one of the most beautiful characters 
I have ever met, Commander Henry C. Taylor, who was 
the captain. 

About ten years before, Taylor had been ordered to 
the Naval Academy as one of the instructors in mathe- 
matics. The first day that he appeared before the section 
in which I was, he presented an appearance at once so 
pretty and so effeminate that we midshipmen exchanged 
knowing glances with one another. He had a low, sweet 
voice, an extremely courteous manner, and a general lady- 
like appearance in every way. At one stage of the reci- 
tation a midshipman whom we will call Smith made a 
mistake; and seeing that Mr. Taylor realized it, Smith 
tried to make it appear that he had really not made a 
mistake. Smith was the wit and bully of the class, and 
we watched his manoeuvers with interest. Mr. Taylor 
replied to Smith's manoeuvers with a series of questions, 
put in a very courteous way. Finally, Mr. Taylor said 
something like this : 

''Then, Mr. Smith, if I understand you aright, and 
pray correct me if I do not, you admit to me and to the 
company of gentlemen here that you made a mistake 
in your answers, and that you tried to bluff and mis- 
lead me into believing that you had not made a mistake. 
Am I correct in so understanding you, Mr. Smith?" 

''Yes, sir." 

"Do you think that that was an honorable and officer- 
like thing to do?" 

"No, sir." 

"Do you think that it was a dishonorable and unofficer- 
like thing to do 2" 



m FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

''Yes, sir." 

After that we never tried to bully or bamboozle "Harry 
Taylor." We came to have the greatest affection and 
admiration for him, and we and the entire navy always 
had those feelings for him until he died, as chief of the 
Bureau of Navigation, about 1903. 

One day in conversation with Commander Taylor in 
his cabin on board the Saratoga, he said to me, apropos of 
some matter we were discussing: 

''It is a question of foresight." I had never thought 
much about foresight up to that minute, and I said fool- 
ishly : 

"Captain, do you think that human beings have fore- 
sight ? Men nowadays do not have the gift of prophecy. ' ' 

I do not remember his answer in words; but the sub- 
stance of it engraved itself on my memory, and is one 
of the few remarks of men to me that have had an in- 
fluence on my life. Taylor said in substance: 

' ' No, Mr. Fiske, men do not have the gift of prophecy. 
But men are so constituted that those of one generation 
are much the same as those of the generations that pre- 
ceded them, and are apt to do similar things, modified by 
circumstances ; and this is especially true of large crowds 
of men. You know it is an old saying that histoiy re- 
peats itself. As I understand it, this does not mean that 
the events which happen during one generation are ex- 
actly the same as the events which happened during the 
past generation ; but it does mean that, under similar con- 
ditions, large bodies of men act similarly. You remem- 
ber that, in mathematics, when you draw a line on a piece 
of paper which shows that something is moving in a cer- 
tain direction in obedience to a certain law, you realize 
that it will continue to move in that direction unless some 
force from the outside changes it; and that that is sub- 
stantially the "first law of motion." Therefore, if we 
can determine, even approximately, the forces which con- 
trol a certain movement, we can predict at least ap- 
proximately the direction in which that movement will 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 67 

proceed. This ability to predict approximately is what I 
call to myself 'foresight,' and I have come to believe 
that one of the greatest causes of failure, especially when 
the movements of large bodies of men are concerned, re- 
sults from lack of foresight, and from a failure to realize 
that we can tell the probable course of events if we can 
find some set of conditions in the past like those present 
now. Of course, if you can find in history conditions 
very much like them, you can' then ascertain the measures 
which were then applied and note their success or failure ; 
then, in the light of that experience, you can decide on the 
measures you should adopt." 

Taylor lived about twenty years after this. He car- 
ried out in his own studies and practice the principles 
I have tried to indicate, and he became, after Admiral 
Luce, our navy's principal guide in strategy. While all 
the navies owe an enormous debt to Admiral Mahan for 
calling the attention of the world at large to the in- 
fluence of sea-power on the prosperity of nations, our 
own navy owes more to Admiral Luce and Admiral Tay- 
lor than to anybody else for determining and demon- 
strating the direction in which the development of our 
navy should be prosecuted, and then insisting that that 
direction should be followed. 

On board the Saratoga the characteristic of our cap- 
tain of always trying to see ahead had one curious, 
but natural, effect. In port, and at sea when everything 
was proceeding smoothly, he was always on the lookout 
for something to happen, and would worry the officer of 
deck continually about all sorts of things. But when 
things were bad, as they were one night during a tre- 
mendous southeast gale combined curiously with a dense 
fog off the southern coast of Long Island, in the path of 
the steamers going both ways, Taylor stood on the horse- 
block all night, calm, cool, and buoyant. He always wor- 
ried, when things were all right; but, and probably for 
that reason, he was magnificent in emergencies. 

I secured my detachment from the Saratoga about the 



68 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

first of January, 1882, and orders to the old steam frigate 
Minnesota, then stationed at Newport, because I wanted 
to be married. The Minnesota was a gunnery- training 
ship, and part of the training squadron which Admiral 
Luce had organized for educating and training seamen 
for the navy. Luce was undoubtedly the best naval offi- 
cer, in the large sense of the word, whom our navy has 
ever produced. Taylor was a pupil of his, and so was 
Mahan. Luce realized that the further the education 
of the enlisted man could be pushed in the proper direc- 
tion, the better each man would be, and therefore the 
better the navy would be. He had a keener insight into 
what a navy ought to be than anybody else in our navy 
or any other. 

One afternoon while I was officer of the deck of the 
Minnesota, a sailing-boat capsized not far away, and I 
sent the steam launch to the rescue. The sailing-boat 
contained a Mr. Stokes, a wealthy summer resident of 
Newport, some of his children, and two sailors. Our 
launch saved everybody by a narrow margin, except one 
sailor, who was drowned. The next evening, when I was 
again officer of the deck, a boat came alongside, and a 
handsome elderly man came on to the deck and said, 
''Permit me to introduce myself, sir; I am Mr. Stokes." 
The Stokes-Fiske murder flashed through my memory, 
and so I said, ''And I am Mr. Fiske." Mr. Stokes drew 
himself up as if he did not like my levity; but as I re- 
tained an unmoved face, he unbent and said, "I am very 
glad to meet you, Mr. Fiske." This little story got 
abroad, and for some time afterward in Newport, one 
man meeting another would occasionally say, "Good 
morning; I am Mr. Stokes," and the other would reply, 
"Good morning; I am Mr. Fiske." 

I was married in St. Thomas's Church, New York, on 
February 15, 1882. The wedding was declared to be very 
splendid, the beautiful church and the uniforms of the 
officers making a fitting setting to the beauty of the bride 
and charming appearance and costumes of the brides- 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 69 

maids. The last time I ever saw Governor Tilden was 
at the reception which followed later at the residence of 
the bride. He was very feeble, but he jocosely accused 
me of having **cut him out," it having been a joke be- 
tween him and Miss Harper for sometime past that they 
were engaged to be married. 

After a brief honeymoon, I went back to Newport 
with my bride, and took up life again aboard the Min- 
nesota. In the latter part of the summer, because re- 
pairs were needed to the ship, we steamed from New- 
port to New York, taking advantage of good weather in 
order to make the trip in safety. 

About this time my old ship the Powhatan went through 
a gale, during which she came so near sinking that, when 
she finally limped back to Hampton Roads, she was in 
such bad condition that the department finally determined 
that she must go out of service forever. So the depart- 
ment ordered her to proceed to the Norfolk Navy-Yard 
and go out of commission. The usual influences then got 
to work, and the department was induced to modify its 
order, and direct that the Powhatan go to New York and 
go out of commission there. So the Powhatan started 
from Hampton Roads for New York. Things went 
pretty well until she was perhaps fifty miles from Sandy 
Hook, when bad weather came on. Whether she would 
ever get around the Hook or not became the question, 
and a very serious one. Finally she did get inside the 
Hook, and she did drop her anchor in safety, much to 
the relief of everybody on board. But hardly had the 
anchor reached the bottom, when the tops of the furnaces 
gave way, and the Powhatan became a helpless hulk. 
Tugs were then sent from the navy-yard, and the old tub 
was towed, an abject and dejected figure, to her doom. 

While on board the Minnesota the idea occurred to me 
of making a breech-loading musket on the same principle 
as that of the machine-gun which I had proposed to the 
Bureau of Ordnance in 1877, but had had no opportunity 
to develop. I had the intention, of course, of attaching a 



70 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

magazine to it later, in case the breech-loading apparatus 
worked well. By this plan the motion of the bolt for- 
ward and back was given by turning a little crank ; so that 
the motion was the reverse of that of a reciprocating 
steam-engine. No trigger was needed, because the revo- 
lution of the crank beyond a certain safety-stop, which 
was pushed in by the right thumb against a spring, caused 
the firing-pin automatically to slip off a cam, and fire the 
gun. Just as I was becoming interested in this, I received 
a letter from the Bureau of Navigation, informing me 
that the trials held of my electric log had been success- 
ful, and that the bureau was prepared to adopt it for 
the service if it could be furnished in quantities at a 
price sufficiently low. I was so interested in my gun, 
however, that I delayed answering the bureau's letter. 
In fact, I have not yet answered it, and the electric log 
was developed later by other people. 

My breech-loading gun worked very well indeed. I 
could fire twenty-four shots a minute with it, and I 
found it extremely accurate in firing at a target, because 
the movement of the crank necessary for firing did not 
throw the sight off the target so much as did the pulling 
of a trigger. One day shortly before the Minnesota left 
Newport, I was on the forecastle firing my gun out into 
the water. There were very few men on board, and no- 
body was on deck with me except Lieutenant Bartlett, 
who had a watch in his hand, and was counting the num- 
ber of shots I could fire in a minute. Bartlett was stand- 
ing about ten feet from me, when, by clumsiness on my 
part, the gun went off, and landed a bullet in the deck be- 
tween Bartlett 's feet. Bartlett and I then vowed to each 
other that we would keep this secret always. Bartlett 
died several years ago. I think he kept my clumsy act a 
secret till he died. 

The Minnesota went to New York shortly afterward, 
and when I obtained my year's leave, I sent my musket 
to the Bureau of Ordnance for inspection. When I went 
to the bureau later, it was still there in company with 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 71 

other suggested guns of novel types. Lieutenant Couden 
advised me to submit my gun for the consideration of 
the Italian Army, saying that Italians would be especially 
adapted to using it, because of their practice in turning 
the handles of hand-organs. 

Since 1865 the navy had been pursuing the downward 
path, and now (1882) she had reached the bottom. No at- 
tempt whatever had been made to resist the process of 
degeneration and decay, the principal reason being the 
''swing of the pendulum" that always sets in after every 
extreme condition of any kind; for instance, after every 
war. The people of the country. North and South, had 
suffered so much from the Civil War that they made 
themselves believe that war was a "relic of barbarism," 
and that it would never come again, at least to so en- 
lightened a people as those of the United States. Even 
in the army and navy there was a general acquiescence 
in this proposition ; and if it had not been for a few men 
like Luce in the navy and Upton in the army, who besides 
being students of history had the moral courage and the 
mental courage to disagree publicly with the pacifist 
attitude of the time, the army and navy would have sunk 
even lower than they did. 

Of course I did not realize these things at that time; 
but I did realize that the navy was an extremely uninter- 
esting place for a man who had already learned virtually 
all there was of the naval profession, and who could see 
no prospect ahead except a tiresome alternation of 
monotonous cruises at sea and profitless tours on shore. 
Just then, in the autumn of 1882, two inventions in elec- 
tricity showed the promise of the future to any one who 
had pondered even a little about what Commander Taylor 
had said regarding foresight. These inventions were the 
electric light and the telephone. 

I went for advice to Mr. Park Benjamin, who had re- 
signed from the editorship of The Scientific Americcm, 
and had, with his brother. Dr. George H. Benjamin, estab- 
lished an office as scientific expert on Broadway, opposite 



72 FEOM MIDSHIPMAJ^ TO REAE-ADMIUAL 

the post-office. I told Mr. Benjamin what I was thinking 
about, and he said in effect : 

* ' That 's just the right thing to do. "Whether you stay 
in the navy or not, it will do you a lot of good to know all 
about electricity. Electricity is the coming thing, and it 
can be made very useful to the navy; so if you jump right 
in now, you '11 be able to do a lot for the navy in showing 
it how to use electricity. If you don't know how to start, 
come right in here, and help me and my brother. We 
won 't give you any salary ; but you can study my books, 
and we are engaged in such a lot of new work that you can 
get into touch with the electrical movement right away. ' ' 

I applied for six months ' leave from the Navy Depart- 
ment, saying that I wished to study electricity. Commo- 
dore John G. Walker, a splendidly able and progressive 
man, was then chief of the Bureau of Navigation. Com- 
mander McCalla was his assistant, and I recalled the fact 
that when I left the Powhatan, McCalla had said to me 
in effect : 

'*Mr. Fiske, I do not approve at all of a good deal of 
your conduct while you have been in this ship. At the 
same time I recognize in you a mind of considerable 
originality, and if I can ever do anything for you, you 
will do me a favor if you will request me to do it. ' ' So 
accompanying my letter to the Bureau of Navigation, I 
sent an unofficial letter to Commander McCalla, explain- 
ing it. By return mail I got a letter from McCalla, tell- 
ing me that he had submitted my request to Commodore 
Walker, recommending that he grant it, and that Walker 
had replied, ''Tell Fiske that six months isn't enough, 
tell him to ask for a year." 

Of course I did so, and of course I got the leave. I 
started in at once. At this time the telephone had been 
in existence six years since the time its ability to transmit 
speech had been demonstrated at the Centennial Expo- 
sition in Philadelphia, and it had been declared by most 
people to be "a toy." Very few telephones were to be 
seen, and the use of whatever telephones there were in 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 73 

use was extremely exasperating. However, coming 
events were casting their shadows before, and several 
companies were trying to put telephones on the market, 
which they declared did not infringe the Bell patent. 
Among these companies was the Drawbaugh Company, 
of which Mr. Benjamin was the patent attorney. The arc 
light (that is, the large, flickering electric light used to 
light streets) was fairly established, especially the Brush 
light ; but the incandescent light, for use in interiors, was 
struggling for existence. The Edison Company had es- 
tablished a little plant on Pearl Street, and there a small 
dynamo turned around most of the time day and night, 
supplying light to a small district near by at the expense 
of the Edison Company; and Mr. Hiram Maxim had in- 
stalled some lights on the ferry-boats that plied between 
New York and Jersey City. But despite those facts, the 
practicability of the incandescent light for general use 
was scoffed at. Professor Henry Morton, the president 
of Stevens Institute in Hoboken, for instance, was an 
utter disbeliever in it, and declared so in speech and writ- 
ing though he defended Mr. Edison from the charge of 
being like Keeley, a charlatan and impostor. President 
Morton said that the trouble with Edison was that he 
didn't understand scientific and engineering matters; 
that he was simply ignorant. Mr. Morton was a man of 
such influence that his estimate of Edison and of the elec- 
tric light was generally accepted. 

I stayed in Mr. Benjamin's office only three months. 
It was intensely interesting, but I soon began to see that 
I was out of place ; and when I suggested this to Mr. Ben- 
jamin one day he said : 

*'Yes, Fiske, I think you are. In fact, I don't know 
what some of my clients would think, who realize how 
many important patent secrets are in this office, if they 
knew that you are hobnobbing with electrical people 
everywhere and visiting electrical companies. The pur- 
suit of information is very laudable on your part, doubt- 
less, but it might excite their suspicions." 



74 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

So I borrowed four hundred dollars from my mother, 
and hired an office in the old Astor House as "Consulting 
Electrical Engineer." This may seem a rather pre- 
sumptuous action on my part, but it really was not so, 
because I realized that I knew more about practical elec- 
tricity, as connected with its science, than most other 
people did. I had had an excellent education in mathe- 
matics and the physical sciences at the naval academy and 
a fair acquaintanceship with mechanical apparatus; 
whereas very few of those interested in the electrical 
movement then knew more than the theory or the prac- 
tice. They could then be divided with fair correctness 
into three classes : first, the professors in the colleges, 
who knew nothing whatever about the practical uses or 
apparatus of electricity, but whose knowledge was con- 
fined to laboratory apparatus, which did not include any 
new inventions in the electric light or telephone ; second, 
employees of the Western Union Telegraph Company, 
who knew nothing of scientific electricity, but knew all 
about the only electric apparatus then in general use, 
which was telegraph apparatus ; third, a number of half 
educated men, possibly one thousand, who had some 
knowledge of machinery, a good deal of ability, and su- 
perabundant energy, and who were trying to invent, or 
to make in a haphazard way, electric dynamos, electric 
lights, and telephones. 

I made just about enough money to pay my office rent. 
I became infatuated with electricity, whose coming won- 
ders dazzled me ; and I studied and wrote nearly all the 
time. But I could not make much real headway. I un- 
derwent periods of extreme discouragement. I remem- 
ber one day when I was feeling particularly blue receiv- 
ing a copy of the London Electrician. I looked with 
reverence at the scientific articles in it and at the names 
of the great men who wrote them, wishing that I could 
be like them ; when suddenly I saw my own name stand- 
ing out in letters that looked six feet high. There, to my 
intense astonishment, I saw more than a page of the 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 75 

London Electrician taken up with a copy of an article 
by me that I had published in some American paper! 
The revulsion of feeling from intense discouragement to 
intense encouragement was so strong that I walked about 
for hours thereafter in an unfamiliar world, with unfa- 
miliar hopes and dreams. 

About this time a tall, good-looking man, with his over- 
coat carried over his arm, came into my office and intro- 
duced himself as Mr. Samuel D. Mott. He said that he 
was a draftsman, and had made many of Edison's draw- 
ings for him; but that now he wanted to start off "on his 
own hook, ' ' and that it had occurred to him that he might 
get desk room in my office. I told him that I was pay- 
ing twenty-five dollars a month rent, and that I would be 
glad to give him desk room if he would pay me ten dollars 
a month. He said that he would, and so in he came. 

Having had occasion to test the resistance of some insu- 
lators around which telegraph wires were secured on tele- 
graph poles, an idea occurred to me whereby the resist- 
ance between the wire and the insulator might be in- 
creased and the leakage decreased. I talked the scheme 
over with Mott, and we agreed to take out a patent to- 
gether on it. This we did. The insulator about a year 
later was put on the market, under the name of the Fiske- 
Mott Insulator, by the Chicago Insulating Company. 
About that time I had to go to sea, and I sold my half of 
the patent to the company for a hundred dollars. 

In the spring it occurred to me that, although there 
were a number of books written on electricity, there was 
no book on what we now call "electrical engineering"; 
that the existing books could be divided into two classes, 
mathematical treatises on electricity and books giving 
rules of thumb by which to make electrical apparatus. 
So I concluded to write a book that would try to bridge 
the gap between the two classes. It occurred to me to ask 
Harper & Brothers to publish the book when I had fin- 
ished it; but that idea made me feel uncomfortable, and 
so I decided not to do it. I worked for four months al- 



76 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

most continuously on the book, and when it was finished 
I took it to D. Van Nostrand, sometime in August. I 
showed it to the venerable old publisher literally with 
*'fear and trembling," but he accepted it almost inune- 
diately. He said that he had been wanting to get a book 
such as I had written, and that as soon as his readers had 
passed it, he would get the book out just as quickly as he 
could print it. 

The book came out in the latter part of October and 
was a success from the start. The reviews were all fa- 
vorable, and most of them commented on the clearness of 
the style. It ran through ten editions quickly, and sold, 
though at a gradually decreasing rate, for twenty-two 
years. 

I have always been sorry that I was never able to re- 
vise the book, as the publishers continually urged me to 
do. But on the first of October I had to decide whether 
I would go back into the navy or resign. Of course I 
ought to have resigned; but I was married, and all the 
family on both my side and my wife 's side urged me not 
to do so. Their principal argument was that my health 
was so precarious that I might break down at any time 
and have no means of support ; whereas, in the navy, the 
retired list was always waiting for me, with its small, 
but certain, pay. 

So I wrote to McCalla, and received a reply from him, 
asking me if I would like to go to the Electrical Exposi- 
tion at Vienna as the representative of the Navy Depart- 
ment. After talking this over with my wife, I wrote back 
the next day, saying I would be very glad to do so. The 
fiirst of October approached rapidly, and with it the end 
of my leave, and I was making preparations for going 
to Vienna when I got another letter from McCalla, saying 
that, when my orders to Vienna were presented to the 
secretary for signature, the secretary said he had already 
promised such orders to Lieutenant McLean. 

McCalla expressed his regret, but said that he had gone 
to Commodore Sicard, the chief of the Bureau of Ord- 



LEAD-PENCIL, TALLAPOOSA, SARATOGA 77 

nance, with the suggestion that my knowledge of elec- 
tricity, especially of the new things in it, would make me 
a valuable member of the bureau, and that Sicard had 
agreed, and asked McCalla to have me ordered to the 
bureau, if I wished. McCalla closed his letter by urging 
me to accept the position otfered. I accepted, and orders 
came to report to the chief of Bureau of Ordnance on 
October 1. 



CHAPTER VII 

BUEEAU OF ORDNANCE AND FRANKLIN INSTITUTE 
ELECTEICALi EXPOSITION 

MY wife and I arrived in Washington on Septem- 
ber 30, the day before I was to report for duty in 
the Bureau of Ordnance, and took up pleasant quarters in 
a large boarding-house at 823 Vermont Avenue, directly 
opposite the Arlington Hotel. Shortly after, a cousin 
of my wife's visited Washington and stopped at the Ar- 
lington Hotel. Before leaving New York, he secured her 
address, and one afternoon he stepped out from the 
Arlington Hotel and said to the driver of a carriage : 

' * How much to take me to 823 Vermont Avenue ? ' ' 

With great presence of mind the driver answered, 
*'Two dollars," 

Cousin John, being a business man, and knowing the 
value of having business matters carefully arranged, 
said: 

''Very well, I will give you two dollars and no more. 
Now take me to 823 Vermont Avenue by the most direct 
route." 

So he got into the carriage, and was driven directly 
across the street to a house that had the figures 823 above 
the door. Cousin John realized the situation, and gave 
the driver his two dollars and a good cigar besides. 

The next day I reported for duty in the bureau. Cap- 
tain Sicard was chief of the bureau, and as such had 
temporarily the title of commodore. Commander Sum- 
ner was the senior assistant and occupied a room by him- 
self ; but the real work of the bureau was done by Sicard 
himself, assisted by Lieutenants Couden and Bucking- 
ham and Ensign Alger, three exceptionally able men. 

78 



BUREAU OF ORDNANCE 79 

There were two rooms for the draftsmen, one room for 
the chief clerk, another room for other clerks, and two 
for the four officers. Sicard was a splendid man in every 
way, but he spent too much of his time with details. He 
had a fine mind, however, and though he was slow, he 
almost never made a mistake. There are few men to 
whom the navy owes so much as it does to Sicard. , 

The Navy was just beginning to pull itself out of the 
comatose condition into which it had fallen; but it was 
so far behind, especially in ordnance and gunnery, that 
the work of reconstruction had to be radical and begin at 
the bottom. Virtually all the old ordnance was useless 
for the purposes of modern war, and there was nobody 
in the United States who knew anything about the new 
ordnance except from reading about it. The live men 
of the navy, like Luce and John G. Walker, had finally 
roused certain congressmen and others to a realization 
of facts, and the ''Naval Gun Foundry Board," under the 
presidency of Rear-Admiral Simpson, had been sent to 
Europe to study and report on modern methods of manu- 
facturing steel and steel guns. Furthermore, a system 
had been started a few years before, on the initiative of 
Cadet Engineer Francis T. Bowles, whereby men who 
graduated near the heads of classes at the Naval Acad- 
emy were sent to naval construction schools in Great 
Britain and France to learn the art of building naval 
ships. The Naval Advisory Board also had been estab- 
lished, and was still in operation. The president was 
Commodore Shufeldt, and the secretary was Assistant 
Naval Constructor Bowles, who was one of the first grad- 
uates of the system that he had initiated. This system 
with certain modifications continues to the present day, 
and is the cause of the excellence of our corps of naval 
constructors. 

The navy was in a deplorable plight. The principal 
reason, of course, was the belief through the country that 
war would never come again ; but part of it could reason- 
ably be laid upon the shoulders of George M. Robeson, 



80 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the previous secretary of the navy. He had been a law- 
yer in New Jersey, but I have never heard that even as 
a lawyer he had achieved such a reputation for ability 
and character as to warrant his being placed in supreme 
control of the naval defense of the United States and 
intrusted with the responsibility of making decisions in 
the complicated cases that naval administration con- 
stantly brings up. 

A feeling had gradually developed through the country 
that Robeson was personally dishonest, and that he re- 
ceived large sums of money for his personal benefit from 
contractors, especially from a contractor named Secor, 
who built and repaired some ships. The New York 
Swn usually spoke of him as ''The Honorable Secor 
Robeson," and this name stuck to him so tightly that 
some people forgot what his first name really was, and 
one naval officer is said to have addressed an official let- 
ter to him by that name ! It is quite probable that the 
accusations were not true, but the fact that they persisted 
for many years injured the navy exceedingly. Reports 
were current that many a congressman would remark, '*I 
am perfectly willing to vote money for the navy, but I am 
not willing to vote money for Secor Robeson." 

In March, 1881, Judge William H. Hunt had become 
secretary under President Garfield. Judge Hunt was a 
man of high character and ability, and as he had a son in 
the navy who was a lieutenant, he was really interested 
in the navy. One of his first acts was to secure the con- 
sent of President Garfield to the appointment of a naval 
advisory board to consider and report on what should be 
done to rehabilitate the navy. Congress authorized the 
construction of certain ships in 1882; but the death of 
Mr. Garfield, followed by the accession of Mr. Arthur to 
the Presidency, and his appointment of Mr. William E. 
Chandler as Secretary of the Navy brought about the ap- 
pointment of a second advisory board, authorized by 
Congress in 1882, with a personnel different from that of 



BUREAU OF ORDNANCE 81 

the first board. Mr. Chandler, like Judge Hunt, had a 
son who was an officer in the navy, so that he also was 
actually interested in it. He was entirely free from any 
suspicion of financial dishonesty and was an energetic 
and forceful man, and though he had not been educated 
in scientific or engineering lines or had much experience 
in administration, he was the instrumentality for accom- 
plishing a good deal. 

The navy was exceedingly fortunate then in having as 
chief of the Bureau of Navigation, and therefore as the 
principal professional adviser to the secretary, Captain 
John G. Walker. Walker was a man of clear and broad 
mental vision, excellent judgment, and great force of 
character; besides, he had recently had the advantage, 
when on extended leave, of a few years' experience in a 
high administrative position in a railroad — I think the 
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Walker and Sicard 
comprised a very good team, Sicard offsetting by his pos- 
sibly too great prudence and his engineering type of 
mind any tendency of Walker to go to unwise extremes. 
These two men, and especially Walker, were able to im- 
press Mr. Chandler with the necessity for building up 
the navy from the national point of view. In those days, 
to a greater degree even than now, congressmen got their 
ideas as to what a good navy required direct from the 
secretary rather than from naval officers. I asked many 
congressmen and others why they did not get their ideas 
from naval officers direct instead of getting them filtered 
through the mind of a secretary, who might transmit cer- 
tain inaccuracies in the process of filtering. The an- 
swers were rather vague and amounted to saying, *'The 
military must be subordinate to the civil authority." 
This did not seem a very logical reason, but it was evi- 
dently potent. 

Walker, like most great men, was unassuming in his 
manner and appearance and had a keen sense of humor. 
One day a young officer came into the Bureau of Navi- 



82 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

gatioii, and, seeing Walker, whom he did not recognize, 
said to him, ^' Where 's Walker T' To this, the unex- 
pected answer came : 

'*0h, don't call me Walker; call me John." 

The officer was overwhelmed with confusion, and apolo- 
gized as best he could; but Walker laughed it off, and 
gave the young man the orders he requested. 

The second advisory board had recommended the con- 
struction of certain vessels, and these recommendations 
being approved by the secretary and the President, the 
Congress of 1883 had authorized the construction of ves- 
sels virtually in accordance with those recommendations. 
The vessels authorized were one of about 4500 tons' dis- 
placement, two of 3000 tons each, and one of 1500. These 
were called afterward the Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and 
Dolphin. As the Dolphin was only a gunboat, with only 
one gun as large as six-inches caliber, the principal work 
in the Bureau of Ordnance, when I joined it, was in de- 
signing the ordnance for the Chicago, Atlanta, and Bos- 
ton, especially the Atlanta and Boston, which were to be 
completed before the Chicago. 

My work in the bureau was to be the adaptation of elec- 
tricity to ordnance and gunnery. Couden looked out for 
torpedoes and guns, Buckingham for gun-mounts, and 
Alger for mathematics, especially as applied to gun de- 
signs. But we all worked together, and we had to work 
together; in fact, we had to flounder about a good deal 
together. None of us knew very much about any of the 
subjects of which we were in charge except from reading. 
An idea of our fitness for the work may be gathered from 
the fact that, after all the designs had been made for the 
ordnance outfit of the Atlanta and Boston, we discovered 
that, if the ship heeled over as much as ten degrees, the 
gun could not be turned around. The design called for 
hand power only, and the center of gravity of the gun 
and the gun-carriage, as designed, was so far away from 
the pivot in the deck that no two men, using the training- 
gear designed, could possibly move the gun-carriage up- 



BUEEAU OF ORDNANCE 83 

hill if the ship rolled ten degrees. To make the matter 
worse, nearly all of the money appropriated had already 
been allotted, so that there was very little money left 
with which to make any changes. It was found practi- 
cable to change the design in such a way as to move the 
center of gravity much nearer to the pivot, but it could 
not be moved far enough to overcome the difficulty. We 
had faced the situation blankly for several days when I 
was able to offer a solution that met the difficulty. By 
this solution the design and the gearing remained -as they 
were, but a shaft was run down from the gearing on the 
gun-carriage to a room below, in which we could put an 
engine that could be operated by the gun captain from 
above. 

After my solution had been accepted, the next question 
that came up was the kind of engine which should be put 
in the room below. The preference of Commodore Si- 
card was for a water-engine, which was the kind of engine 
that the British were using for turning guns ; my prefer- 
ence was for an electric engine ; and the preference of the 
other officers was for a pneumatic engine. As a result 
of our discussions, I was sent to New York to investigate 
the matter, and was cautioned to find as cheap an engine 
as practicable, because the bureau had only a few hun- 
dred dollars left to devote to this purpose. After going 
to the various pump manufacturers, air-drill manufac- 
turers, electric companies, and steam-engine-makers, I 
was forced to decide in favor of an ordinary steam- 
engine. 

On my return to the bureau, my decision was accepted, 
and a contract was made with a firm on Dey Street, to 
supply two engines for the Atlanta and two for the Bos- 
ton to fulfil certain specifications. The drawing of the 
specifications was done mostly by me, but none of us 
knew much about steam-engines. To illustrate this, it is 
merely necessary to say that in the specifications, as 
finally agreed to, the four engines were to be tested on a 
continuous run of twenty-four hours, but nothing was 



84 FROM MIDSHIPIVIAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

said about what load the engines should carry ! Finally, 
when the engines were reported ready, I went to the town 
of Reading, Pennsylvania, and solemnly stood by those 
engines for twenty-four hours while they turned round 
without any load whatever. Fortunately for the bureau, 
this story never leaked out ; and I did not realize what a 
silly test it was for some time afterward. 

At the proper time the four engines were put into the 
two ships. The one tried first was the one that turned 
the eight-inch gun on the quarter-deck of the Atlanta. 
On the first test it turned the gun perfectly; but the gear- 
ing made a high and hideous rattle that drowned all other 
sounds on board the ship, and could be heard over the 
navy-yard and out in Brooklyn. This difficulty was reme- 
died without very much difficulty, however, and the four 
engines turned the four eight-inch guns of the Atlanta 
and Boston successfully for several years thereafter. 

I found the work of adapting electricity to ordnance 
more difficult than I had expected, mainly by reason of 
the lack of confidence in electricity by officers, but largely 
also by reason of the imperfect nature of the insulation 
then used on wires and the general fragility of electrical 
apparatus. Shortly after I joined the bureau, Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Royal B. Bradford was assigned to 
duty in the Bureau of Navigation as '* naval inspector of 
electric lighting." He had just returned from a cruise 
as executive officer of the IT. S. S. Trenton, the first man- 
of-war in the world to be equipped with an electric light- 
ing plant. Bradford was so impressed with the advan- 
tages of electric lighting for na\^ ships, and he had made 
such a success of the electric lighting of the Trenton, that 
the progressive Commodore Walker took up the matter 
with energy and force. 

Bradford was an admirable man for the task, and went 
ahead with his work with so much energy and ability that 
before many years all except our older ships were 
equipped for electric lighting. To Bradford more than 
to anybody else does the navy owe the excellence of the 



BUREAU OF ORDNANCE 85 

electric lighting installations in our ships. It may be re- 
marked here that the whole country also owes much to 
Bradford, because the standard of excellence which he 
set brought out a safer and more durable grade of electric 
apparatus than could otherwise have been brought out; 
and ''navy standard" became the standard that was set 
for electric work all over the United States. 

My first attempt was to adapt electricity to firing guns, 
continuing the work of others in this field. Two objec- 
tions were urged against it : one, that electricity was too 
uncertain, and the other that, although a man could fire 
a gun more quickly by pressing an electric button than 
by pulling a lanyard, this was of no real advantage, for 
the reason that the conditions of firing guns o-n ship- 
board were such that the man could not tell exactly when 
the sights were ''on the target." I did my best to over- 
come these objections, but without success; so that the 
Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago were not equipped for elec- 
tric firing. Of course all ships are now so equipped, and 
have been for many years. 

One day in looking over the ordnance plans of the 
Atlanta, and seeing no range-finder provided, I said to 
Lieutenant Buckingham : 

"Why don't you put a range-finder in the conning- 
tower I ' ' 

To this he made the surprising answer: 

"If you will tell us where we can get a range-finder, 
we '11 put it in. ' ' 

Further conversation with him developed the fact that 
although many men had tried to invent range-finders for 
ships, no one had ever yet succeeded. This conversation 
was a fateful one for me, because I immediately resolved 
to invent a range-finder. 

Shortly after I joined the bureau, the success of my 
book led me to think that it would be well for me to re- 
sign and go into electrical work, for which it seemed I had 
some aptitude. So, after my work in the bureau during 
the day, I would spend the most of the time in studying 



86 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN- TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

electricity, especially the mathematical laws which gov- 
erned it. Perhaps this was a foolish thing to do, but 
I enjoyed the studies intensely, and felt that keen and 
peculiar mental stimulation which work in the physical 
sciences produces. 

In Prescott's book on the "Electric Telegraph" was a 
picture of Edison using a "megaphone," which was an 
apparatus comprising one long trumpet for speaking 
through, and two large cone-shaped receivers, fitted with 
rubber tubes, that could be inserted in the ears. With 
the approval of Commodore Sicard, I made a series of 
experiments with megaphones at the navy -yard in Wash- 
ington. We thought that very large megaphones could 
be made that would not only help us to hear, but also 
to speak over long distances. Curiously, the principal 
value of hearing was to be the detection of coming tor- 
pedo-boats. I remember I made one megaphone that 
stood about ten feet high, and had a mouth about three 
feet across, and that a man wishing to use it would put 
his ear or his mouth at the bottom, for hearing in one 
case, for speaking in the other. The results were cer- 
tainly interesting, and for a while they seemed important. 
No practical result of value was obtained, however, the 
principal reason being that the loudness of all sounds 
was amplified, including the sounds one did not wish to 
hear, such as those produced by the wind. A very effec- 
tive apparatus, however, along the lines of Edison's, was 
mounted soon afterward, on my recommendation, on top 
of the pilot-house of the Atlanta. The megaphone idea 
has been adopted, of course, but in a much simplified 
form. 

In March, 1885, Mr. Cleveland became President, and 
Mr. Whitney, secretary of the navy. Mr. Cleveland was 
elected with the assistance of the so-called "mugwumps," 
who were Republicans who revolted against Blaine. 
These mugwumps had the support of the principal daily 
newspapers of New York and of Harper's Weekly, 



BUREAU OF ORDNANCE 87 

which was the principal weekly. As Mr. Whitney was a 
New York man with a wealthy wife and influential con- 
nections, he entered the Navy Department under excel- 
lent auspices. Shortly after he entered, I happened to 
be in his office when Rear-Admiral Simpson presented the 
report of the board which had just conducted the tests of 
the Dolphin — tests which the board reported to be suc- 
cessful. I did not hear the conversation between the 
secretary and Admiral Simpson, but I noticed that when 
Admiral Simpson went out, he appeared to be very much 
astonished and crestfallen. It turned out later that the 
secretary had expressed doubts as to the correctness of 
the report of the board, and announced his intention of 
investigating the matter. 

Mr. Whitney appointed another board (some described 
it as ** picked" and others as ''packed"), and that board ^ 
reported the Dolphin as ''structurally weak." As the 
contractor, John Roach, was the same man who was then 
building the Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago, this report 
and the attitude of the secretary resulted in the bank- 
ruptcy of John Roach and a long delay in completing 
those three ships. 

The navy was much disheartened by the action of the 
secretary, because in their opinion all the vessels were »x 
satisfactory ; but they accepted the delay with that obedi- 
ence to superior authority which is and always has been 
characteristic of our army and navy; in fact, of all 
armies and navies. 

Of course we now know that the action was most re- 
grettable and that the Dolphin was an excellent ship. 
She made a cruise of 58,000 miles not long afterward, 
and she has been in commission most of the time ever 
since. The navy as a whole sided with John Roach, with- 
out whose organization, which he himself had built up, 
the ships could not have been built so quickly; but the 
navy, of course, was powerless. The newspapers sided 
with the secretary, and most of them lauded him. The 



88 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

reputation which he got then he never lost, and one some- 
times sees the extraordinary statement in the papers that 
Mr. Whitney was ''the father of the new navy"! 

Nobody was the father of the new navy. The new navy 
was the child of a public opinion created by navy officers. 
Excepting navy officers, the man who probably did more 
for the navy than any other one man was Secretary 
Hunt, who, though he was in office a very short time, 
brought about the establishment of the first naval ad- 
visory board for the express purpose of producing a 
new nav}^ Mr. Chandler followed Mr. Hunt, and both 
did efficient work; but both were only instrumentalities 
for influencing Congress and the President to do what 
naval officers like Luce, Walker, Sicard, and others urged 
them to do. Mr. Whitney came into office after the Chi- 
cago, Atlanta, Boston, and Dolphin were almost finished, 
and one of the principal acts of his administration was to 
delay their completion for virtually a year. 

Mr. Whitney did one good thing for the navy, and that 
was to establish the "general storekeeper system." 
When Mr. Whitney came into office, each bureau had in 
each ship and each navy-yard its own stock of materials. 
As some of the materials were the same for one bureau 
as for the others, it occurred to Mr. Whitney, as a man 
of business, that it would be better to have all the navy 
department supplies in each navy-yard and each ship 
under the charge of one officer, and to let the representa- 
tives of each bureau in each navy-yard and ship draw 
such supplies as he needed from time to time. Mr. Whit- 
ney met with some natural objections on the part of cer- 
tain bureaus, but he was able to get the system firmly 
established before he left. With modifications, it has 
continued ever since. 

Some time in the spring of 1885 two gentlemen called 
on me in the Bureau of Ordnance, and introduced them- 
selves as Professor Houston and Mr. Waugh of Philadel- 
phia, representing the Franklin Institute. These gentle- 
men said that the Franklin Institute was arranging to 



BUREAU OF OEDNANCE 89 

produce an International Electrical Exposition in Phila- 
delphia in the summer, that a great deal of money had 
already been pledged, that a number of the greatest elec- 
tricians in the world had promised to be present to con- 
stitute an electrical conference, and that they had come 
to Washington to seek the cooperation of the Govern- 
ment, especially of the navy. Of course I saw the im- 
portance of the proposition at once, and I told them that 
the Bureau of Ordnance had more electrical apparatus to 
show than did any other part of the Government, and that 
I should be glad to help all I could. So I introduced 
them to Commodore Sicard, with a strong recommenda- 
tion that the bureau should cooperate b}^ making an ex- 
hibit in the exposition. The commodore agreed at once, 
and said that he would give me charge of the exhibit. 

The exposition opened about the first of September, 
and the Bureau of Ordnance had one of the best exhibits 
shown. The Franklin Institute erected a large building 
at Thirty-third and Market streets, and virtually all the 
electrical companies in the United States had exhibits 
there. The stage at which the electrical industry had 
already arrived was amazing. I think the Edison Com- 
pany exhibit was the largest, but the exhibit of the Bureau 
of Ordnance attracted the most attention, at least at first. 
In that exhibit there were three search-lights, and one of 
them was of thirty-six inches in diameter, one of the 
largest lights existing in the world. This was hoisted up 
into a tower from which the light could be thrown in every 
direction. Pretty soon the Pennsylvania Railroad made 
an official complaint that it was blinding their engineers, 
so that they could not read the signals. Not long after, 
I received a letter from a town about twenty miles dis- 
tant, saying that the beam of the light had suddenly illu- 
minated the proceedings of a camp-meeting of colored 
people, and thrown them into the wildest excitement; 
they thought that the day of judgment had arrived. 

Many naval and army officers came up the tower to 
watch the light, and we were all disappointed that we 



90 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

could not see things clearly if they were more than a mile 
away. At first we did not understand why this could be, 
when we knew that, under favorable conditions, people 
twenty miles away could see the beam distinctly. But 
we soon realized that if any one sees an object, he sees 
it because of the light reflected from it or from the back- 
ground; so that in order that we should see an object a 
mile away, the object would have to be illuminated so 
brightly as to reflect back rays of light over a distance of 
a mile with sufficient power to produce the phenomenon of 
vision. 

The exposition continued during four months and sup- 
plied to vast crowds interesting and instructive entertain- 
ment of the utmost value. Sir William Thompson, Mr. 
Preece, and many other electricians of world-wide fame 
enlightened us with lectures, and many new inventions 
that had not yet become established were presented for 
the consideration of the conference of electricians, of 
which I was a very minor member. 

One of the most interesting in this class was the 
Sprague Electric Motor, invented by Frank J. Sprague. 
Sprague was a graduate of the Naval Academy in the 
class four years after mine who by a remarkable system 
of tests, which he had proposed to the British Electrical 
Exposition in London, and which the exposition had 
adopted, had attracted the attention of electricians every- 
where, among them Mr. Edison. Sprague soon after- 
ward resigned, and went into the Edison Company, and 
later established the Sprague Electric Motor Company 
as a sort of annex to the Edison Company. One night 
after the exposition had closed, a dozen or twenty of us, 
including Sprague, were drinking beer at a saloon near 
by, in order to clear our minds for the next day's work. 
We got into an argument in which Sprague was on one 
side and the rest of us were on the other side. We all 
declared that, while Sprague had a very good electric 
motor, the theory on which he had built it was scientifi- 
cally wrong. Later events proved that Sprague was sci- 



BUREAU OF ORDNANCE 91 

entifically right and that all the rest of us were scientifi- 
cally wrong. 

One hot afternoon I received an unexpected call from 
Allderdice of my class, who had resigned and gone into 
engineering work. Allderdice seemed to be in a great 
hurry. He said in effect, ''Now come along, Fiske, and 
run up to New York. We have got just time to catch the 
train. I am in with a company that has an electric loco- 
motive head-light, and it won't work, and they want you 
to fix it up. The directors of the company are in New 
York, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and they sent me down 
here to bring you up for dinner." 

I went with Allderdice, and on the way up he told me 
that he had told his friends that I was one of the best 
electricians in the United States and that he knew I could 
make their lamp work. He said to me : 

'*I want you to charge them a good round sum for. 
doing it, because they won 't think anything of you unless 
you do." 

* ' How much do you think I ought to charge them ? " I 
asked. 

''At least five hundred dollars," he replied. I told 
him I could not do that, but Allderdice said I must. 

We had a pleasant dinner and after dinner "talked 
business." Finally the head director said: 

"Now, Lieutenant, in case you get this lamp working 
all right, how much will you charge us ? " 

I tried to say five hundred dollars but I couldn't. I 
said two hundred, to the intense disgust of Allderdice. 

About a month afterward the head director (I think 
his name was Wheeler) brought the lamp to Philadel- 
phia, and we took it up to the tower where the big search- 
light was. As soon as I put the electric current through 
the lamp I saw that there was nothing whatever the mat- 
ter with the lamp except that one of the springs needed 
to be tightened a little, which could be done by turning 
an adjusting-screw on the lamp. I told Mr. Wheeler this, 
and demonstrated the truth of my statement by simply 



92 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAE-ADMIRAL 

turning the adjusting-screw and showing that the lamp 
then burned perfectly. The whole operation did not take 
five minutes. Mr. Wheeler said, ''Well, I '11 be 
damned!" and put his hand into his trousers pocket and 
pulled out a roll of bills, which he handed to me. I pro- 
tested ; but he insisted that I had earned it, and so I took 
it. On counting the roll afterward, I found that it con- 
tained just two hundred dollars. I spent seventy-five 
dollars of it to buy a watch, and I have carried that watch 
from that day to this. 

During the latter part of my stay in the Bureau of Ord- 
nance I was asked by The Popular Science Monthly to 
write an article on the "Electric Railway." My article 
was one of the first articles that had appeared in a maga- 
zine of high standing on this subject, and it received a 
good deal of attention. It received attention, however, 
more as indicating possibilities than probabilities, and 
most people thought it went much further along the line 
of imagination than was compatible with good judgment. 
Of course the actual performance of the electric railway 
has been much greater than I predicted. 

In October, 1885, 1 was ordered to the U. S. S. Brooklyn, 
then fitting for sea at the navy-yard in Brooklyn. Sicard 
wanted me to be held for the Atlanta on account of my 
experience with her ordnance equipment, and the fact that 
her ordnance equipment was of so novel a kind that the 
other officers of the ship could not at first know much 
about it. But the Atlanta was so long delayed that it 
was considered best to send me to sea, as I had been on 
shore three years, and to transfer me later to the Atlanta. 

The Brooklyn went into commission, and shortly after- 
ward we went to Newport, Rhode Island, to make certain 
experiments in regard to what is called the "tactical di- 
ameter." Our orders were to ascertain the best method 
of determining this. The tactical diameter is, generally 
speaking, the diameter of the approximate circle in which 
a ship turns round. It was very cold work. In carrying 
on our experiments, the Brooklyn would go into the large 



THE BROOKLYN 93 

sheet of water north of Gould Island, while various ob- 
servers on shore and in boats would ''plot the track" she 
was making in the water. My station was at the northern 
end of Gould Island. I had with me about half a dozen 
men. The northern end of the island ended in a bluff, 
which ran down precipitately into the bay. I planted 
my theodolite close to the edge of this precipice, and spent 
most of my time looking through its little telescope at the 
ship. We carried on these observations for many days, 
and finally our last observation was about to be made. A 
sailor stood beside me with a red flag, and I told him to 
make a certain signal to the ship with it. Then I put my 
eye to the telescope, with my back towards Gould Island. 
Suddenly I heard a curious thump, thump close behind 
me. Turning around quickly, I saw a bull hardly three 
feet away, with his fore feet planted on the ground in an 
effort to save himself from going over the bluff, which 
he seemed to have just discerned. Then the bull gal- 
loped away, his strong fore legs having saved one bull 
and one man from an uncomfortable cold plunge together. 

We were glad to leave after Christmas, and go to New 
York. The work that we had been doing was very monot- 
onous, and as the winter was unusually cold, it was very 
disagreeable, I remember being impressed with the 
hardships of the lives of the men in the coasting schooners 
during the winter-times. The schooners which would 
come into Narragansett Bay were covered with ice from 
the heads of the masts, over the sails and rigging, down 
to the decks, and over the sides. Cold weather is some- 
times trying on shore, but it is much more so at sea, where 
the wind usually blows with greater force, and cold water 
is dashed over the face and hands. 

On the first of January, 1886, 1 was detached from the 
Brooklyn, an old ship like the Pensacola, with sails and 
old-fashioned guns and engines, and ordered to John 
Eoach's shipyard at the foot of East Ninth Street, New 
York, to supervise the installation of the ordnance equip- 
ment of the Atlanta, Naturally I made the acquaintance 



94 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

of John Roach, and I found him to be a very interesting 
old man, though broken in health since the episode of the 
Dolphin. Whenever he saw me passing, he would beckon 
to me, and talk about navy matters and ship construc- 
tion ; but before he got through, he was sure to talk about 
the Dolphin and burst into tears. He had been a molder, 
and had risen to his almost great position by his own 
exertions, directed by his abilities and pushed forward 
by his character. With me he would talk as grammati- 
cally and correctly as anybody would, but I noticed with 
interest that whenever he talked with any of his work- 
men, he would talk as they did. For instance, he would 
say, *'them rivets." One day as we were walking 
through his yard together, he said : 

*'Mr. Fiske, do you see that man walking ahead of usT* 

''Yes, sir." 

*'Do you know who he isf" 

''Yes, sir; that 's Mr. Sickles." 

"Do you know anything about him?" 

"Oh, yes, sir, he invented the Sickles cut-off. Besides 
that, he is the first inventor of the steam steering en- 
gine. He is a very remarkable man." 

"Yes," said John Roach, "he is a very remarkable 
man. The most remarkable thing about him is that he 
was never known to do a thing right the first time. I 
know, because I have had to pay for his experiments." 

Some time in July, 1886, the Atlanta was towed from 
John Roach's yard up the East River to the dock at the 
navy-yard, Brooklyn. Shortly after, she was put into 
commission. The work of making her equipments, espe- 
cially the ordnance equipments, had gone along so slowly 
that she was not at all ready ; but as the officers and men 
were all ready, it was considered best to put the ship into 
commission and have the officers and men live and work 
on board. 

The Atlanta was the first ship of the new navy, for al- 
though the Dolphin preceded the Atlanta, the Dolphin 
was called a "despatch-vessel" and was so rather than 



THE ATLANTA 95 

a man-of-war. The Atlanta had a displacement of only 
3000 tons, some sail power, and only one propeller or 
screw. Since then we have had ships of gradually in- 
creasing size, battle-ships, battle-cruisers, submarines, 
etc.; but each one of the ships that has followed the 
Atlanta has been a change only in degree from ships be- 
fore her, and not a change in type, at least not so sudden 
a change in type as was the Atlanta. The Atlanta was 
the first United States ship to have modern ordnance, 
search-lights, and protective deck, and to conform in gen- 
eral to the changes in naval construction and ordnance 
that had come about in the foreign navies during the pre- 
ceding twenty years. We were all very proud, officers 
and enlisted men alike, of being ordered to the Atlanta. 



CHAPTER VIII 

CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 

WE found a great deal of difficulty in installing tlie 
ordnance equipment in the Atlanta, principally 
because there were then no men experienced in this kind 
of work, and because some of the ordnance material sup- 
plied was not good in all ways. Finally we got all the 
gun-carriages and guns into place, however, and then we 
went out to sea to try them. The guns worked perfectly 
well, and so did the carriages ; but we had some difficulty 
at first in keeping the men close enough to the guns, as 
many of them were found to be ''gun-shy." 

At one time, during a pause in the firing, the chief 
boatswain's mate, a handsome man named Davis, who 
was standing on the upper deck, saw a rope hanging down 
from the end of one of the boat-davits. To a seaman's 
eye this was painful; but Davis did not like to go out 
to get hold of the rope and pull it in, because he was 
afraid that a gun near the davit, the muzzle of which he 
could see sticking out from the deck below, might be fired ; 
still less did he like to order another man to do it. After 
hesitating for a few minutes, the seaman's instinct pre- 
vailed over prudence, and he ventured outside of the 
ship and took hold of the rope. Just as he did so the 
gun was fired. The shock to Davis was tremendous ; but 
we got him in on deck, and he soon recovered. But his 
clothes did not recover. The day was cold, and he had 
on a navy overcoat. Now, an explosion causes a rapid 
alternation of increased and decreased pressure of the 
air. Of course air was inside of Davis' clothes as well 
as outside ; and the result of the unbalanced pressure was 
to tear his clothes literally to shreds. I have never seen 

96 



CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 97 

anything like it before or since. If some one had taken a 
pair of large shears and cut all his clothes from top to 
bottom into strips about an inch wide, the result, to all 
appearance, would have been the same. 

Later, that afternoon, I was standing on the port side 
of the gun-deck aft, when the six-inch gun near me was 
fired. I was not far from the muzzle ; and the gun seemed 
to shoot right through my left ear. I executed an imita- 
tion of the Highland Fling for a few seconds; but the 
intense pain passed away soon, and in a few minutes I 
found I had suffered no apparent harm. But my hear- 
ing has never been quite so good since in that ear. 

The fastenings on the deck by which the gun-carriages 
were secured there were made of bronze. The firing 
demonstrated the fact that bronze was not strong enough. 
So we went back to the navy-yard and stayed there for a 
considerable time, while steel tracks and fittings were 
being made with which to replace the bronze ones. The 
steel parts were then put in, and after that we had no 
further difficulty with our ordnance equipment. But we 
had a great deal of trouble in getting the horse-power 
required by the contract from our main engines. This 
was finally accomplished, however, and the Atlanta was 
pronounced a great success. 

About this time my promotion to the grade of lieuten- 
ant became due, and I was ordered to examination for 
promotion. I had no difficulty in passing the moral, 
mental, and professional parts, but the doctors shook 
their heads when they listened to my heart. Like the 
doctors on my preceding examination, they said I had 
organic heart disease, but that the disease had not pro- 
gressed far enough to warrant their rejecting me. This 
was some comfort to me ; but it was the kind of comfort 
that is sometimes called cold. 

While in the Atlanta I did a good deal of experiment- 
ing in electricity. I became much interested in what we 
now call ''wireless telegraphy," or ''radio telegraphy," 
but which we then called ' ' signaling by induction. ' ' Our 



98 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

captain was Francis M. Bunce, one of the finest men I 
have ever known, and he helped me as much as he could 
in getting the Navy Department to let me have a little 
money now and then with which to get the electrical appa- 
ratus made. Bunce had made a splendid record during 
the Civil War, but occasional lapses from the path of 
strict sobriety had prevented him from getting the pro- 
motion that otherwise would have been given him. 

Later he became commander-in-chief of the North At- 
lantic Fleet, and the navy was delighted at this, because it 
was at a time (about 1896) when war with Spain seemed 
probable, and we felt that Bunce was the best man we had 
to command in war. We deplored his occasional lapses, 
but we were of the opinion that, even if their unfavorable 
effect had been greater than it was, Bunce would still 
have enough left in his favor to make him a better com- 
mander-in-chief than any other man we had. Unfortu- 
nately, when war finally did break out with Spain in 
1898, the secretary of the navy, while a most excellent 
and admirable gentleman, was a man with such ideas re- 
garding total abstinence that he could not see all the 
characteristics of men in their correct shapes and sizes. 
To him occasional insobriety was not so much a fault in 
a man as the one great fault. According to his estimate, 
a tendency of this kind overbalanced whatever great 
qualities a man might have, and made that man a liability 
to the human race and not an asset. Captain Sampson 
was made commander-in-chief, with the rank of rear- 
admiral, and put over the head of Schley, who had been 
his senior during all their professional lives. The result 
was the notorious ''Sampson-Schley Controversy" which 
did the navy so great a harm as to be incalculable. Of 
course Sampson was one of the best officers the navy ever 
produced ; but he did not have the qualities of leadership 
that Bunce had and, besides, his health was delicate. 
True, he won the Battle of Santiago, and should be ac- 
corded all due credit for it. But Bunce would have won 
the battle just as gloriously, and would have aroused the 



CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 99 

enthusiasm of the people instead of chilling it ; with the 
result that the establishment of the navy upon an ade- 
quate basis would have been made much easier than it 
really was after the disastrous Sampson-Schley Con- 
troversy. 

But to return to the Atlanta and the year 1867. At 
this time there were several men experimenting in sig- 
naling by induction, notably Edison, Nikola Tesla, Pro- 
fessor Dolbear of Tufts College, and some others, among 
whom was my humble self. In one of my experiments I 
wrapped several coils of wire around the Atlanta, and 
sent a current through the coils, which I could make and 
break ; and I also wrapped the steel tug Nina with coils 
of fine wire with a telephone in the circuit. The main 
current on board the Atlanta being made and broken, I 
could hear the ''makes and breaks" in my telephone in 
the Nina, but not over sufficient distances to be of any 
practical value. Sylvanus Thompson's book on "Elec- 
trical Engineering" mentioned me as having made the 
largest electro magnet in the world — a 3000 ton electro 
magnet, the Atlanta. I had considerable correspondence 
with Prof. Dolbear and I carried out as best I could the 
recommendations he made to me in regard to the scientific 
proportions of my apparatus. President Henry Morton 
of Stevens Institute also became interested even to the 
extent of letting me cut all the lightning-rods on the insti- 
tute in two. I think they remained so for three days, 
when finally I had the broken parts soldered together 
again. I did not get clear indications for much more 
than fifty feet. 

Then I tried to signal through the water. I immersed 
two large plates of copper in the water; one plate a con- 
siderable distance ahead of the Atlanta, and the other a 
considerable distance astern. Then, on the opposite side 
of the stream, on the cobdock side, I immersed two simi- 
lar plates, connected by fine wire in circuit with a tele- 
phone. The distance across was about two hundred 
yards, and I could hear perfectly well whenever the cur- 



100 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

rent was made and broken on board the Atlanta, a large 
enough quantity of the "divided circuit" coming across 
and going through my wire and telephone. 

Ensign Dana Greene helped me in these experiments. 
He was a son of the Lieutenant Greene who took com- 
mand of the Monitor after Worden was disabled in the 
fight with the Merrimac, and he was also a nephew of the 
present General Francis Vinton Greene. He had gradu- 
ated at the head of his class at the Naval Academy, and 
was a wholly admirable young man. Shortly after this 
I was able to get Greene, who wished to resign, a position 
with the Sprague Electric Company, from which he 
finally went to the General Electric Company at Sche- 
nectady. He married a daughter of Commodore Chan- 
dler of our navy. One afternoon in 1900, when he and 
his wife were skating on the Hudson, they fell into a hole 
in the ice and drowned together. At this time I was 
coming across the Pacific with a present for Mrs. Greene, 
which her sister had handed to me in Yokohama. 

One afternoon I thought I had made a great discovery. 
Greene and I made a trip along the East River in the 
steel tug Nina, towing a copper plate by an insulated 
wire, in the circuit of which was a telephone; while on 
board the Atlanta a current of electricity was kept going 
through the wire to the plates immersed ahead and astern 
of the ship, and through the water between them. I knew 
from Preece's experiments in England, in which he sig- 
naled through the water from England to the Isle of 
Wight, that a current spread out a good deal in going 
from one plate to another in the water; and I hoped to 
pick up some of it on board the tug. On the afternoon in 
question I told the electrician on board the Atlanta not 
to break the current, but to keep it going continuously, 
and that I would make and break the current in the wire 
on board the tug. So Greene and I stood in the cabin 
of the tug, he listening at the telephone and I working 
a telegraph key in front of him. I shall never forget the 
blissful smile on Greene's handsome face as we were 



CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 101 

steaming away from the Atlanta, getting at greater and 
greater distances, while he kept saying, "Yes, I hear a 
click every time you press the key." Finally I said, 
"You don't hear it as strong now as you did at first, do 
you?" "Yes, sir; I think I do." At last, after we had 
steamed about two miles away, and his indications were 
as strong as ever, I became confident that a horrible sus- 
picion which had been rising in my mind was well 
founded; and so I said: "Greene, we 're a pair of 
d.f 's. If that current came from the Atlanta, it would 
be getting weaker and weaker. What we hear is some 
current in our own wire. I believe that the sea-water out 
here and those two plates in the water constitute an elec- 
tric battery strong enough to send a current through our 
wire and actuate the telephone." Subsequent investiga- 
tion showed that this was true. 

The Atlanta made a cruise of four months to the West 
Indies and back. One bright, hot afternoon in St. 
Thomas some of us went into the telegraph office in the 
town of Charlotte Amalia to see if there was any news, 
and we were shown a cable from New York, saying that 
there was a tremendous blizzard there, that the snow 
was so deep that all traffic was suspended and that peo- 
ple were dying in the streets. We did not believe this 
at all, but we afterward found that the account was true. 
The date was March 12, 1888. 

We went to Colon, which was still called Aspinwall. 
We found it considerably changed from the Aspinwall of 
1876, because thousands of French and Chinese were 
working on the Panama Canal. A feverish and un- 
healthy activity pervaded the hot little town. Gambling- 
saloons and drinking-saloons lined both sides of the prin- 
cipal streets; people of all nationalities hurried hither 
and thither, and the conditions of health were such that 
one was reminded of the sentence in the Bible, "Pesti- 
lence walketh in the noonday." Chagres fever, malaria, 
and yellow fever were the principal diseases; but de- 
lirium tremens and the results of gambling and over- 



102 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

drinking were present in addition. I remember a gen- 
eral picture at once exciting, brilliant, attractive, and 
forbidding. Only one moving-picture stands out clearly 
in my mind, and that is of a young negro woman being 
driven rapidly through the streets in a wagon under the 
charge of two policemen. She was raving and yelling 
at the top of her voice, and trying to tear off her clothes. 
They told me that that was what the women always 
tried to do there when they were drunk. Some of us 
agreed in conversation that Aspinwall came the nearest 
to our ideas of hell of any place we had ever seen. 

We went from Aspinwall to New Orleans, and found 
the change delightful. We were in company with another 
ship, — I think the Ossipee, — and the night before we en- 
tered the passes, we used our megaphone with excellent 
effect to give an order orally to the Ossipee to rectify a 
mistake she had made in reading a signal. 

One afternoon we gave a dance on board the Atlanta, 
and I met a pretty young lady with whom I had several 
dances. She asked to see my room. On my bureau was 
a picture of my wife and six pictures of my little daugh- 
ter at various ages. She said : 

'*Is that your wife!" 

''Yes," I replied. 

"Are all those your children?" she asked. 

''Yes," I said. 

"I might stand the wife, but I can't stand all those 
children," she then said. 

We had joined the squadron of Admiral Luce, and the 
ships were anchored one behind another in the swift 
current of the Mississippi. One afternoon, a tremendous 
storm of wind, rain, and thunder came up just as a tow 
of tugs and barges reached a spot a short distance ahead 
of the Atlanta. Exactly what happened to the tow I do 
not know ; but I know that two large barges drifted down 
with tremendous force on the Atlanta and carried her 
astern helplessly, just missing the Ossipee astern of us 
by a small margin. We let go an additional anchor with- 



CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 103 

out avail at first, but we finally brought up near the navy- 
yard in shoaler water. 

From New Orleans we went north, and finally to the 
navy-yard in Brooklyn. Some time before joining the 
Atlanta I had invented a mechanical lead-pencil the char- 
acteristics of which I do not now recall. I assigned the 
patent to the American Lead Pencil Company, and they 
put the pencil on the market. One forenoon, while I was 
officer of the deck of the Atlanta, alongside of the dock 
at the navy-yard in Brooklyn, a gentleman came on board, 
and introduced himself to me as a representative of the 
American Lead Pencil Company. He said that my lead- 
pencil was not selling very well, but that he was author- 
ized by the company to oifer me two hundred dollars 
for the patent! Two hundred dollars! There was not 
anything in the world I wanted so much just then 
as two hundred dollars — except a larger sum. So I 
said: 

"When will you give me the two hundred dollars?'* 

He said: 

*'I '11 give it to you right now, if you wish: I have a 
check-book in my pocket, and the papers all ready for 
you to sign." I hurried him into the chart-house, fear- 
ing that he would get away ; and we put the whole oper- 
ation through in about two minutes. I think the lead- 
pencil sold better after that. 

During the ten years that had elapsed since my con- 
ception of telegraphing printed words I had been think- 
ing a good deal about the subject. One afternoon in 
New York, while the Atlanta was at the navy-yard, I 
stood watching analytically the operations of a stock- 
ticker, when an idea came to me by which I thought I 
could improve stock-tickers tremendously. I set about 
the task at once, and in a few days I called at the offices 
of the Western Union Telegraph Company with a sheet 
of paper on which there were some diagrams. I was 
ushered into the office of the vice-president and general 
manager, Thomas C. Eckert, who afterwards became the 



104 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

president. I showed him the diagrams, and he said to me 
politely : 

*'I see your idea, and it looks to me like an extremely 
good one. I wonder that no one has thought of it before. 
But, you know, I cannot really do anything with it. If 
the Western Union Company were to adopt this scheme 
of yours, we should have to throw away all our stock- 
tickers, and lose over a million dollars. But if you take 
this to some other company, they might put it on the 
market and give us no end of trouble. That is n't likely; 
but at the same time, I am willing to buy it from you for 
some small sum. How much do you want?" 

I was expecting something like this, and so I said, 

*'I 'd like ten thousand dollars." 

*'0f course you would," said General Eckert, **but 
I 'm not going to give you ten thousand dollars. I '11 
tell you what I '11 do ; I '11 give you seven hundred dol- 
lars for it as soon as we get the patent. We will pay 
the expenses of the patent, so you will be seven hundred 
dollars to the good." 

I agreed at once, and we signed the papers. There 
was little trouble in getting the patent, and I received 
the seven hundred dollars about a year later. 

On my way back to the ship, I conceived another idea 
which seemed to be very much better; and just a week 
later, I presented myself before General Eckert again 
with another diagram. General Eckert said : 

''Are you going to come over here once a week to get 
seven hundred dollars?" 

''No, sir," I said; "but I 'd like seven hundred dollars 
this time." 

He took a pad of paper in his hand and wrote on it 
slowly with a lead-pencil, "I will give you $100," and 
showed it to me. 

"When will you give me the hundred dollars'? " I asked. 

' ' Right now, ' ' he replied. 

"Before the patent is granted?" I asked. 

"Yes, before you leave this room," he answered. 




ZC^_J?^ 



CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 105 

I agreed to this, and we signed the necessary papers. 

The man who brought in the papers to sign was Mr. 
C. L. Buckingham, the patent attorney of the company. 
About a year later I got a note from Buckingham, say- 
ing that he was having a little trouble in getting my sec- 
ond application papers through, and that he would like 
me to take lunch with him at Delmonico's and talk over 
the matter. We had an excellent luncheon, during which 
Buckingham said that what he wanted me to do was to 
testify under oath as to certain facts connected with my 
conception of the idea. He added: 

**0f course you testify as an expert, and we will pay 
you at the usual rates." 

''What would the usual rate be in a case like this?" I 
asked. 

''About two hundred dollars," he replied. 

"Do you mean that you will give me two hundred dol- 
lars if I will testify in this matter ? " I asked. 

Buckingham said: "Yes, that is the usual procedure." 

So I went to Buckingham's office after lunch, took the 
usual oath, and then stated the facts connected with my 
conception of the idea. Then Buckingham handed me a 
check for the two hundred dollars. 

About a year later this procedure was repeated almost 
precisely. 

Two or three years after that, when I was in the York- 
town, we anchored at Sandy Point in the Strait of Ma- 
gellan, and the mail came on board with a letter for me 
from Buckingham. Buckingham's letter asked me to 
sign some papers, which he inclosed, if I could do so with 
propriety, and to send him the bill. I was not able to 
do this until we got to San Francisco several months 
later, because a notary public was required. Then I 
signed the papers, and sent in a bill for two hundred dol- 
lars. A check for that amount came back by return 
mail. 

About two years later I met Buckingham by chance on 
Broadway. He told me he had been able to secure a 



106 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

strong basic patent on my second printing telegraph, and 
that he had tried to get the Western Union Telegraph 
Company to adopt my telegraph to the exclusion of all 
others, but without success. He said that, although my 
system had the disadvantage of needing three wires in- 
stead of two, it was very much more rapid and less 
apt to make mistakes; because the type wheel jumped 
instantly from one letter to another instead of going 
slowly by pulsations. Buckingham added that he had 
left the company, was devoting all his time and money to 
my invention, and that he had a line in operation between 
New York and Chicago which was working, very well, 
though still experimentally. 

About a year after that I met Buckingham again by 
chance. He said that he had been operating my printing 
telegraph between Paris and Berlin, but that the estab- 
lished telegraph companies in the United States and 
Europe had been too strong for him, and that he had 
finally been compelled to give up. I said: '*Mr. Buck- 
ingham, I 'm dreadfully sorry ; you must have lost a good 
deal of money on my account." Buckingham answered: 
"It has cost me about three hundred thousand dollars. 
Of course I am sorry that I lost the money, but I am not 
sorry at all that I went into the scheme. I am only sorry 
I was not able to put it through. ' ' 

That was the last time I ever saw Buckingham. He be- 
came a very successful practitioner of patent law in New 
York, and died about ten years later. 

A great part of the next summer we spent in Narra- 
gansett Bay, off Newport, near the war college, which 
Admiral Luce had persuaded the Navy Department to 
establish, which was the first naval war college ever es- 
tablished by any nation, and of which he had persuaded 
Commander Mahan to undertake the presidency. Luce, 
with that foresight which to some people seems like 
prophecy, and to others seems like genius, had years 
before realized what nobody else realized in our navy, 
or in any other navy, that naval officers as they grew 



CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 107 

older needed instruction in strategy, in addition to the 
instruction which their duties gave them in gunnery, 
navigation, ordnance, seamanship, international law, elec- 
tricity, etc., and had conceived the idea of establishing 
a naval war college. Despite covert sneers and loud 
guffaws, Luce succeeded in getting a few officers to see 
the light that he saw, and to consent to identifying them- 
selves with the project; and finally he even persuaded 
the department and Congress to establish a college, util- 
izing the old poor-house on Coaster's Harbor Island for 
the college building. In this very modest structure a 
few Luce devotees then read books and wrote papers 
and delivered lectures. At the head of these officers was 
Commander Alfred T. Mahan. • 

A depressed-looking man he was in those days. I shall 
never forget a conversation I had with him and Mrs. 
Mahan at the war college one afternoon. While Mahan 
did not say that he had made a mistake, it was perfectly 
apparent that he was intensely discouraged. He made 
excuses for himself and the war college, but seemed to 
have no great hope connected with it. That a man of 
his rank and standing should have made excuses for him- 
self to an obscure young man of my age and rank showed 
how he regarded his position then. 

Luce ordered the officers of the fleet to go to certain 
lectures delivered by Mahan and others. We obeyed, of 
course, but with very bad grace. We did not see, even 
the captains of ships, who ought to have seen, did not see, 
what the campaigns of the Archduke Charles had to do 
with the profession of the naval officer. Luce, Mahan, 
and the others at the war college tried to make us see that 
the art of war, like any other art, is an art that is prac- 
tised by men, according to the principles of the art ; and 
that in the military and naval art the guns and other 
weapons used are tools, just as a hammer and a chisel 
are tools in the hands of a sculptor or a brush in the 
hands of a painter. We, like most other people, were 
down so close to the ground that we saw only the things 



108 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

immediately around us ; while Luce and Maban were far 
enough above the ground to see other things besides, and 
to see the relations of those other things to the things 
immediately around them. Nearly all the seed fell on 
stony ground ; but the fact that the war college continued 
to maintain an existence, although a miserable one, for 
many years, until it finally became established, shows 
that occasionally a seed fell on fertile ground. 

But Luce gave us other work than listening to lectures. 
He kept us going all the time ; some one dubbed him the 
' * great North American drill sergeant. ' ' He kept us con- 
tinually steaming out to sea to hold tactical evolutions, 
then going into port to have night exercises, sham at- 
tacks, landing parties, marches, etc. Luce could never be 
quiet himself or let anybody else be quiet. We admired 
him intensely because we realized his extraordinary in- 
telligence, his professional knowledge and skill, and his 
force of character. And he was a delightful companion, 
too, unassuming in his manner and full of funny stories 
and witty talk. 

One day in Newport another lieutenant and I were 
walking slowly and gravely, and we encountered Luce 
walking much more briskly than we, wearing a pink 
flower in his buttonhole and swinging a little cane. As 
we passed him we saluted, of course, and we heard him 
singing to himself. 

** Waters," I said, **what do you suppose keeps him in 
good spirits all the time." 

''That's easy," answered Waters; *'he doesn't 
smoke." 

That winter Luce took the North Atlantic Fleet to 
Pensacola, and told us we had to go ashore for a week 
and pretend to be an army. All the boats of the ships 
were towed to the shore by steam launches, taking away 
from every ship all the officers and men except just 
enough to take care of them. About an hour before we 
were to start it began to rain in torrents. Some of us 
said, ''Well, we don't like rain ordinarily, but this will 




Photo, Brown Bros 



REAR-ADMIRAL A. T. MAHAN 



CRUISING IN THE ATLANTA 109 

prevent our going ashore this afternoon." We didn't 
know our commander-in-chief. We went ashore at the 
time appointed, and spent all the afternoon and evening 
in the rain, getting up our tents and putting our camp 
in order. Most of the officers and men had to lie on the 
ground under their tents, but Midshipman Jenkins and 
I were able to get a few boards to lie upon. Jenkins was 
the first lieutenant of the company of which I was cap- 
tain. We were all drenched to the skin, and everything 
we had was wet, and I expected to see a few hundred 
pneumonia and rheumatism cases in the morning. But 
there were no pneumonia or rheumatism cases in the 
morning. The fact that the ground was sandy and ab- 
sorbed the water quickly, helped us, of course. 

After we went north that spring (1888) Luce gave a lec- 
ture before the United States Naval Institute in which 
he pointed out the impossibility of ever getting an effi- 
cient navy with the system of naval administration then 
existing. Under that system the Navy Department was 
divided into separate bureaus, each with its special task 
to do; but there was no one to direct their activities 
strategically, in preparing for war or waging war, except 
the secretary of the navy, who was always a civilian and 
untrained in strategy. 

This lecture marked Luce's downfall, materially speak- 
ing. Up to that moment Luce had been the only flag- 
officer since the Civil War who had been able to get a 
large fleet together and drill it in naval tactics or who 
seemed to care to do so. At this time he had designed a 
number of exercises for the coming summer, in which 
his fleet would operate in simulated war operations along 
the approaches to New York and Newport ; but after his 
lecture his ships were taken away from him one by one. 
Not very long after he was detached from the command 
of the fleet. 

While in St. Thomas one evening thinking about the 
problem of range-finding, and realizing that the problem 
was to find the sum of two angles included between two 



110 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

observers and lines drawn from those two observers to 
a target, it occurred to me that the summation might be 
made by adding the resistances of two portions of wire in 
an electric circuit. This idea seemed so good that I at- 
tacked it at once, and was soon able to devise an appa- 
ratus on the principle of the ''Wheatstone Bridge," 
which seemed to solve the problem perfectly. On get- 
ting to New York I showed it to Lieutenant Zalinski of 
the army, then working on the so-called Zalinski Pneu- 
matic Djmamite Gun, saying I thought that it might help 
him solve his problem of adapting the Vesuvius to her 
work. Zalinski was delighted with my scheme, and I 
soon constructed a crude apparatus to test it. I set this 
apparatus up on the southern shore of Staten Island; 
and the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Company had an ex- 
pert test it by measurements of actual distances both 
day and night. The experiments were so successful that 
they asked me to construct an apparatus for the Vesuvius 
at their expense. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE VESUVIUS, MY EANGE-FINDER AND GUN-DIRECTOR 

I WAS detached from the Atlanta on October 1, 1888, 
and ordered as member of a board that was estab- 
lished to conduct the ' ' acceptance trials ' ' of the Vesuvius, 
the so-called ''dynamite cruiser." 

I was glad to live on shore again, where I did not have 
to stand night watches; but one of the first things that 
happened was that all the members of my little family 
were taken ill. My baby daughter was taken ill with 
diphtheria, her nurse with spinal meningitis, my wife 
with nervous prostration, and I with rheumatism. We 
all recovered except the nurse. 

The Vesuvius was a vessel especially constructed by 
the Cramp Company for the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun 
Company to carry three pneumatic guns. These guns 
were fifteen inches in diameter, and designed to fire pro- 
jectiles that could carry five hundred pounds of dynamite 
each, or some other high explosive. The three guns 
were secured in the bow of the Vesuvius, pointing di- 
rectly forward, at a fixed angle of elevation of eighteen 
degrees. The propelling force behind the projectile was 
compressed air instead of powder, and it was stored 
in reservoirs below deck, and admitted to one gun or an- 
other by opening a valve. The range, or distance, to 
which the projectile was to be thrown was regulated by 
the time which the valve was allowed to stay open. Ex- 
tremely ingenious arrangements had been devised, some 
by Lieutenant Zalinski, but most of them by a Russian 
named Rapieff, to regulate the time to a thousandth of a 
second. 

Rapieff was a highly educated and ingenious man and 

111 



112 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the inventor of an electric light, somewhat used in Eu- 
rope, and known by the name of the Rapieff light. He 
was an excellent electrician ; but I remember his partici- 
pating in a discussion one afternoon with some impor- 
tant New York men, during which he said substantially : 
**The electricity is very good for the delicacy. It is 
beautiful for all the things in which great refinement is 
required, for the telegraph, the telephone, the electric 
light, the instrument of precision ; but for the power, no. 
If you want the power, you must have steam or com- 
pressed air or water. The electricity is no good for the 
power." 

The Vesuvius was a highly interesting craft. She was 
entirely different in her design and intentions from any 
other naval vessel. The guns of all naval ships had 
been directed at the side of an enemy ship, with the in- 
tention of piercing the side with a projectile; but the 
guns of the Vesuvius were to be directed at the deck of 
the enemy ship or at the water near her. For firing at 
the side of a ship, it was desirable, and is still desirable, 
for the guns to have a "flat trajectory"; that is, for 
the projectiles to go from the guns to the enemy ship 
by a line as straight as possible. But the Vesuvius' s 
guns had a high trajectory, and were intended to fall 
down on the target. Zalinski, being an artillery offi- 
cer, understood the principle that, for attacking a hori- 
zontal target, as mortar-fire does, it is correct for the 
projectile to have a high trajectory for the same reason 
that in the game of tennis, if a player wants his ball to 
fall in a certain spot, and has no other end in view, he 
knocks his ball gently up in the air. A good deal of 
criticism by naval officers, however, was directed at 
the high trajectory of the Vesuvius' s guns, which they 
said was contrary to principles of gunnery. They did 
not realize that the target was a horizontal one, and not 
the vertical one to which they were accustomed. 

There were three sizes of projectiles : one size was the 
full calibre projectile, which would carry five hundred 



THE VESUVIUS 113 

pounds of high explosive; one sub-caliber size would 
carry two hundred pounds ; and another sub-caliber size 
would carry fifty pounds. The two sub-caliber sizes 
fitted into the guns just as the full-sized projectiles did; 
but they were made to fit by what may be called ' ' filling 
pieces," which fell off as soon as a projectile left the 
muzzle. These sub-caliber projectiles would, of course, 
go farther than a heavy projectile, but do less damage 
on hitting. The intention was to fire so that there would 
be about an even chance of hitting the" ship or of falling 
about fifty or one hundred feet short of it; and it was 
thought that it would be found more desirable to fall 
about fifty feet short of a ship than to hit the ship, the 
idea being that the projectile would continue its course 
under water, strike the target ship below the water-line, 
and act like a torpedo. 

The Vesuvius was two hundred and fifty feet long and 
twenty-six and a half feet wide; she drew nine feet of 
water, and had a displacement of 725 tons. She was 
made of low steel, was to make a speed of twenty-two 
knots, and to cost the Government three hundred thou- 
sand dollars. 

The first trial of the Vesuvius was for speed, and was 
held by a board consisting of Lieutenants Cowles, 
Schroeder, and Fiske. We held two trials that were 
unsuccessful, much to the bewilderment of the con- 
tractors. On the second of these trials, and as we were 
on our way back to Philadelphia, the members of the 
board, two representatives of the contracting firm, and 
Mr. Horace See, were discussing the matter. Some one 
said: 

''Now, I don't pretend to be a very scientific man, 
but it does seem to me that we have not given the 
Vesuvius a fair show, because we have been testing her 
in water that is too shallow. We have been trying her 
in Delaware Bay, and I think we ought to take her out 
to sea next time, where the water is deeper. You see, 
the ship drags a great deal of water along with her, 



114 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

and if the bottom of the ship is near the bottom of 
the bay, this water is dragged along the bottom of the 
bay, and causes a great deal of friction; whereas, if 
there was deep water there, this friction would not 
exist. ' ' 

Immediately we all realized that we had been acting 
like donkeys, because we all knew just what this man 
had said, but had not thought to apply our knowledge to 
the case in point. 

So the next time we went out to sea, and held the trial 
along a course just outside the capes of Delaware Bay. 
The result was a complete success, a mean speed of 21.646 
knots being attained, which was 1.6 knots in excess of 
the contract. This achievement was hailed with joy not 
only by the contractors and the believers in the Vesuvius, 
but by the people all over the United States, because it 
surpassed all records of speed made up to that time by 
vessels of that class. One sentence in The New York 
Times read, ''It is almost incredible to conceive of 4200 
horse-power being developed in a vessel of 800 tons." 
The trial was held on January 11, 1889. 

Preparations were now started for testing the accur- 
acy of the gun. To eliminate all sources of accidental 
error, a gun was installed at Fort Lafayette, pointing 
south down New York Bay, and three horizontal targets 
were established. One target was a mile away, another 
a thousand yards, and the other five hundred yards. 
Buoys at these spots were supposed to represent the 
centers of rectangles one hundred and fifty feet long 
and fifty feet wide. By the terms of the contract the 
projectiles were to fall inside these rectangles. I was 
a junior member of the board, and my first task was to 
supervise the loading of the so-called dynamite-shells 
with nitro-gelatin. The gelatin masses, as packed in 
the shells, looked like cheeses. 

After a few practice shots, the final test of the gun 
was held on January 26. Eight shots were fired, and five 
hit the target. 



THE VESUVIUS 115 

My station was on the shore abreast of the target, 
where I stood with a theodolite to measure the distance 
by which each projectile went over or short of the target. 
I can remember now the thrill I felt whenever I heard a 
loud cough from Fort Lafayette a mile away, then saw a 
tremendous fifteen-inch projectile coming directly at me, 
then saw it strike the water and run under water about 
fifty feet, and then explode and throw up a tremendous 
geyser of water hundreds of feet into the air. Zalinski 
had arranged a very ingenious electric fuse in the for- 
ward head of the shell, which was set into operation by 
the fact of entering the water, and which caused the 
automatic explosion of the shell, after the shell had 
gone about fifty feet under water; thus imparting a 
torpedo character to the shell. 

The speed of the Vesuvius and the accuracy of the 
gun having been proved, the next step was to see if the 
guns could be fired as frequently as the contract pro- 
vided for. By the contract each gun had to be capable 
of firing as often as once in a minute and a half. The 
work of getting the Vesuvius and her three guns ready 
for this test took nearly nine months, and the final offi- 
cial test did not take place until October 9. The board 
at that time consisted of Commander Goodrich, Lieuten- 
ant Schroeder, and Lieutenant Fiske, all of whom have 
now passed to the quiet shades of the retired list as rear- 
admirals. The trial was held off Pettys' Island, near 
Philadelphia, and was a complete success ; the three guns 
firing five shells each, fifteen in all, in seventeen minutes. 
Each shell was a dummy, but of the size and weight of 
the shell that could carry two hundred pounds of ex- 
plosives, and all went beyond the mile limit which was 
prescribed. The compressed air was in reservoirs, and 
charged to a pressure of two thousand pounds to a 
square inch. The nicety of the valve adjustment re- 
quired may be gathered from the fact that, in order to 
make the longest throw, the valve had to open and close 
in one twenty-fifth of a second, while for the shortest 



116 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

throw it bad to open and close in one two-hundredths of 
a second. 

While on the Vesuvius board it occurred to me that it 
might be possible to make an automatic machine-gun 
that would operate by compressed air instead of by 
powder, and that the power for actuating the mechan- 
ism could be secured by cutting a hole in the rear end 
of the barrel and using the force of the air that escaped. 
I found it easy to invent a mechanism for carrying my 
idea into effect, and then I saw that the plan might be 
used with other kinds of gases than air; gunpowder, 
for instance. So I made application for three patents, 
one patent covering the basic idea of using gas conducted 
from a hole in the rear end of the barrel, one covering 
the application of the scheme to pneumatic guns, and 
the other covering its application to powder guns. 
These applications were all granted finally by the Patent 
Office, and then I did one of the many foolish things that 
I have done in my life : I abandoned three perfectly good 
basic patents rather than pay the three ''final fees," 
aggregating sixty dollars. Years afterward, the ''Colt 
automatic gun" appeared, invented and patented by 
Browning, which was based on the exact scheme for which 
I had been granted the three abandoned patents, and now 
this has been developed and improved into the celebrated 
"Browning Gun." 

The Vesuvius was accepted, but she never found favor 
with naval officers except with a small minority. She 
was put into commission under the command of Lieu- 
tenant Schroeder, but I think for only one cruise. She 
was used off Santiago in the Spanish War under the 
command of Lieutenant-Commander Pillsbury, but did 
not accomplish much in a practical way. I have always 
been of the opinion that, despite the defects of the 
Vesuvius and of the gun itself, the system had great 
possibilities, and that it is unfortunate that they were not 
developed. But the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Company 
failed, and there was no man or body of men behind the 



AMMUNITION-HOIST 117 

enterprise after that to contribute tlie necessary motive 
power to overcome the difficulties. Motive power is al- 
ways needed to overcome difficulties. 

During my cruise in the Atlanta I had invented an ap- 
paratus whereby the motions of an electric motor could 
be made to follow the motions of an operator's hand in 
both speed and direction. I got a patent on this, and I 
also got patents on three applications of it; one for 
hoisting ammunition, one for training guns, and one for 
steering ships. I assigned these patents to the Sprague 
Electric Motor Company, and sometime before I left the 
Atlanta, the Sprague Company began to manufacture 
an electric ammunition-hoist. The underlying idea of 
this was that the operator, by turning a small crank, 
would cause the electric motor to hoist the ammunition ; 
and that if the operator stopped moving his hand for 
any reason, such as being wounded or suddenly startled, 
the motor would stop. This device attracted consider- 
able attention, as it was the first attempt to apply elec- 
tricity to ordnance used on board ship. The ammuni- 
tion-hoist, when completed, was installed on board the 
Atlanta. It was successful, and remained in operation 
for about three years, when it was supplanted by an im- 
proved device. 

One afternoon after I had left the Atlanta I went over 
to the navy-yard to see the ammunition-hoist work. The 
Atlanta was then at the cobdock. In going through the 
yard, I met an assistant engineer, whom I will call Price. 
He and I walked through the yard together, went on 
board the Atlanta, and descended into the wardroom, 
where we sat a few minutes at the table talking. He 
seemed to be in fairly good spirits, but he said he had 
been mortified by a letter from the department which 
intimated, he thought, that he had been trying to shirk 
his duty. I remembered afterward that he carried a 
small package in his hand which looked as if he had 
just made a purchase. I went forward on the gun- 
deck, and spent a few minutes watching the operation 



118 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

of my ammunition-hoist, when I noticed evidences of 
some commotion on the gun-deck. I went aft, and saw 
that the sailors had hung a light kind of screen, and 
had made a small temporary room there. Looking be- 
hind the screen, I saw Price lying on the deck dead, his 
head covered with blood. He had gone to his room 
and shot himself almost immediately after leaving me 
at the wardroom-table. On his bureau were the car- 
tridges, and in his hand was the revolver, which he had 
bought in Brooklyn, and which he was carrying in the 
package I had noticed in his hand while he and I were 
walking through the navy-yard in pleasant talk together. 

Shortly after making my electric ammunition-hoist, 
the Sprague Company installed my electric training sys- 
tem in the U. S. S. Chicago, attaching it to the eight-inch 
gun-carriage on the starboard side of the quarter-deck. 
As this was the first attempt to train guns by electricity, 
it attracted a great deal of attention. It was a success 
almost from the start, but it was determined later not to 
use any artificial source of power except for larger 
guns. I took up that problem a few years afterward. 

It is my impression that I was the first one to demon- 
strate the practicability of using electricity to hoist am- 
munition and train guns. The subject was taken up in 
all the navies afterward, and I think I am not wrong in 
saying that all the navies use electricity now for those 
purposes. I w^as never able, however, to adopt my sys- 
tem to the steering of ships. When the practical details 
were worked out, the complexity that resulted was found 
to be so great as to be prohibitory. I saw no way of 
avoiding it except by leaving out that feature which com- 
pelled the steering-engine to follow the motions of the 
wheel on deck as it was moved by the quartermaster. I 
often suggested that such a following was not neces- 
sary; that it was, in fact, a ''relic of the Dark Ages." 
I never could get anybody to agree with me. During 
the last few years, however, officers have come to see the 
uselessness of this factor. In fact, an electric steer- 



ELECTRIC RANGE-FINDER 119 

ing-gear, in which the quartermaster simply moves a lit- 
tle controller, like that which a motorman uses, has been 
introduced into the service. 

My electric range-finder never worked well in the 
Vesuvius, and for many reasons, one being that it was 
the first apparatus of this kind ever made, and therefore 
faulty in details; the second reason being that the base 
line was only twenty-six feet long. But before this ap- 
paratus was completed, the American Range Finder 
Company was incorporated in New York to develop my 
inventions, and this company secured a contract from 
the Bureau of Ordnance to install one of my range-finders 
in the Chicago. The navy was in a very curious state 
of mind just then. All the officers were impressed with 
the idea that the navy had fallen into a deplorable state, 
and that everything possible must be done to get it out. 
Almost any suggestion was welcome, and nothing wrong 
was seen by anybody in my entering into business rela- 
tions with the American Range Finder Company, which 
was to sell apparatus to the Government. My arrange- 
ment with the cofnpany was that they were to take out 
patents on my apparatus in foreign countries, and that 
I was to receive one fifth of the profits of the company. 
There never were any profits. All the patents we ap- 
plied for were ultimately obtained except one, and that 
was for the first and only patent I ever applied for in 
Turkey. The answer to the first application was that 
the Turkish Government would not grant the patent. 
Shortly afterward the company received a letter, ap- 
parently from the grandmaster of artillery, saying that 
if the company would give him eight hundred dollars, 
the patent would be granted. The company paid no at- 
tention to the letter. 

My range-finder was installed in the Chicago in the 
autumn of 1899. It was beautifully made, but I could 
not, for a long while, get it adjusted in the ship. The 
first essential was that the two telescopes, one in the 
bow and one in the stern, separated by about three hun- 



120 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

dred feet, should be capable of being placed parallel to 
each other, in order that the amount of their convergence 
on a target might have some point to start from. I went 
to the Chicago night after night, with two assistants, and 
pointed the telescopes at the stars, and watched the posi- 
tions of the telescopes at that instant. The telescopes 
then, of course, were parallel. In order to be sure that 
I had made no mistake, I would go to the ship the fol- 
lowing night, and point the telescopes at the same stars, 
only to find that the marks I had made on the telescope 
supports the night before were all wrong. The time was 
approaching when the Chicago was to go to Newport, 
and I was almost desperate, because I seemed to be face 
to face with failure. I began to fear that something 
was wrong in principle with the instrument. Finally the 
ship went to Newport. 

I followed her in a blind effort to find out what was 
the matter, but seeing no light whatever. The same pro- 
cedure continued in Newport. One night when Lieuten- 
ant Knight was officer of the deck, he said to me : 

'*Jim, what are you trying to do*? You come down 
here every night and look up at the sky with telescopes 
in an aimless way, and you come back the next night and 
do exactly the same thing." 

I explained my difficulty to Knight and said : 

''Now perhaps your experience at the gunnery sta- 
tion at Annapolis will enable you to see what the trouble 
is. I don't." 

''Why, that is easy," said Knight. "The next time 
that you want me to get you out of trouble ask me to do 
something hard. The trouble is that those little plat- 
forms under your two telescopes are not parallel to each 
other; and besides that, the star is not always at the 
same height in the sky." 

"Knight," I said, "if we can go to some part of the 
deck where it is dark, you can kick me until you get 
tired. I deserve it." 

The officers of the Chicago had a great deal of good- 



ELECTRIC RANGE-FINDER 121 

humored fun about my range-finder. None of them took 
it seriously, mainly because they thought there was no 
use for any range-finder. Furthermore, at this time, 
while the officers realized the necessity of more elaborate 
apparatus than they had had in the old navy, they were 
very much opposed, and very properly, to the introduc- 
tion of any apparatus not absolutely essential. One day 
while in Newport I was defending the general proposi- 
tion of range-finding, while several other officers were 
supporting the proposition that an officer could learn 
to estimate distances with his eye with sufficient accuracy 
for practical purposes. Finally Lieutenant Soars said: 

*'Jim, you have made a very scientific argument to 
prove that a man cannot estimate distances with suffi- 
cient correctness. Now I 've had a good deal of ex- 
perience in that line, and I believe I can. For instance, 
I believe I could go on deck right now and prove it. 
I don't want to bet, because I may not be able to; but 
I think I can, nevertheless." 

So a lot of us went on deck, and I asked Sears the 
distances of several objects which we could see. Sears 
estimated these distances, and one of the officers wrote 
down what he said on a piece of paper. Then we went 
into the chart-house, and I measured on the chart the 
distances of those objects. To my amazement he had 
estimated them sufficiently correctly for practical pur- 
poses. Twenty years afterward, when I was captain of 
the Tennessee, and Sears, then a captain, was naval at- 
tache at Tokio, Japan, I had a talk with him there. Sears 
then told me that the "estimates" he made that after- 
noon were the result of a little conspiracy, and that all 
those distances had been carefully measured on the chart 
beforehand and memorized. Sears said the performance 
had been intended as a joke, but that I had taken it so 
seriously, they had all agreed to say nothing about it. 

From Newport the Chicago went back to the navy- 
yard in Brooklyn, and I reported the range-finder ready 
for test. An official test was held (I think in November, 



122 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

1889) by a naval board of which Lieutenant-Commander 
Couden was the head, and the range-finder fulfilled satis- 
factorily the requirements for acceptance that had been 
prescribed. 

Certain faults in the Chicago's range-finder, however, 
were so obvious that I invented another range-finder, on 
the same principle, but of a more practical design. A 
contract was made by the Bureau of Ordnance, and two 
range-finders of this design were installed in the U. S. S. 
Baltimore, then fitting out at the navy-yard, Norfolk, 
one range-finder being mounted on the bridge for meas- 
uring distances ahead and astern, the other range- 
finder mounted on the fore-and-aft line of the ship, with 
one instrument in the bow, and the other near the stern, 
for measuring distances on either side. These range- 
finders were tested by a board of which Commander 
Batcheler was the head, and accepted. 

At this time Commodore W was commandant of 

the navy-yard, and his brother-in-law came to visit him. 

Commodore M had been the previous commandant. 

One afternoon the brother-in-law walked about the navy- 
yard, and fortune took him on board one of the ships 
then being repaired. An old-time calker was sitting on 
his funny little stool on the quarter-deck, poking oakum 
into a seam with a sort of a chisel with his left hand, 
and hammering the oakum down into the seam with his 
right hand. In those days calkers were not famed for 
amiability. Not knowing this, the brother-in-law tried 
to get into conversation with the calker, but with no 
success. Finally the brother-in-law conceived the idea 
that it might be well to tell him of his relationship to 
the commandant. Then the following brief conversa- 
tion ensued: 

''Commodore W is my brother-in-law." 

"Do you know Commodore M ?" 

''No." 

"Well, he 's another ." 

The Baltimore's range-finder seemed to be pretty good, 



ELECTRIC RANGE-FINDER 123 

but it was not "direct reading"; that is, the operator had 
to move a pointer along some resistance wires until the 
needle of a volt-meter came to zero, and then read what 
the pointer indicated. So I devised a direct-reading in- 
strument in which the volt-meter needle itself would 
point directly to the range-mark. The principal diffi- 
culty I found was in introducing a correction to take care 
of cases where the target was not perpendicular to the 
base-line, but several degrees away from it. I was so 
fortunate as to be able to conceive of a plan whereby 
the correction was automatically made, and without in- 
troducing any additional apparatus whatever, by simply 
proportioning the resistances in the circuit according to 
a mathematical formula which I discovered. I had an 
apparatus constructed, and it worked exceedingly well 
when the target was not more than forty-five degrees 
away from perpendicularity to the base-line. 

This apparatus was put into the Baltimore by arrange- 
ment with the Bureau of Ordnance, the old apparatus be- 
ing taken out and junked. I did not attempt on this oc- 
casion to put a range-finder on the bridge of the Balti- 
more, because it had become obvious that the base-line 
w^as too small. 

This range-finder was a remarkable success. Not only 
was it better than any other range-finder that had ever 
been produced, but it was really able to measure dis- 
tances with sufficient accuracy for the short ranges then 
used. In those days it was not considered worth while 
to fire at ranges greater than three thousand yards, be- 
cause, with the sights then used on navy guns, the errors 
of sighting were so great that shooting at a greater range 
than three thousand yards would be a waste of ammuni- 
tion. This was so clearly recognized that the specifica- 
tions for my range-finder did not require it to measure 
greater distances. In fact in October, 1890, two thou- 
sand yards was considered to be about the limit of range 
for accuracy. 

The range-finder was ready when the Baltimore went 



124 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

out to sea for the official tests in firing the guns in the 
spring of 1890. The Baltimore fired guns on both sides, 
steaming around a target, and the range-finder stood 
the test. According to the contract made for this in- 
strument, however, it was not to be accepted until after 
a year's trial in the ship in actual service at sea had 
demonstrated its practicability, and the fact had been 
established to the satisfaction of a board of officers. 

In the latter part of 1890 the Baltimore went to Eu- 
rope with the remains of John Ericsson, and she re- 
mained in European waters for nearly a year. Some 
time in June, 1891, The New York Times published the 
following paragraph: 

A naval officer writing from Europe says that while the Balti- 
more was at Toulon, nothing on board the ship excited so much 
favorable comment from foreigners as the Fiske range-finders. 
Just now, says the writer, "when our growing navy is accused 
everywhere of being simply a copy of foreign navies, it is worth 
while to be able to point out something in which foreign navies 
admittedly copy us." 

The Baltimore had recently held target practice in 
which she engaged a floating target at distances which 
were unknown except in so far as the range-finder indi- 
cated them. I am quite sure that this was the first time 
that a range-finder was ever successfully used in naval 
gunnery. 

During the trials of the Baltimore before she left 
the United States the most important idea I had ever 
had flaslied into my mind. Firing had finished with the 
port battery and begun with the starboard, when a large 
fleet of schooners got in the way, and practice had to be 
stopped for a while. I amused myself by looking at the 
schooners through the telescope of the forward instru- 
ment, and noticing how definitely the cross hairs of the 
telescope moved across their sails with the gentle rolling 
and pitching of the Baltimore. I had watched this in 
an idle way for a few minutes when the thought came 



GUN-DIRECTOR 



125 



that anybody could fire all the guns in the broadside from 
that place, and hit the target every time, by setting the 
telescope at the angle of depression equal to the proper 
angle of elevation of the guns, leaving the guns parallel 
to the deck, and firing when the roll of the ship brought 
the cross hairs on the target. 

In a few minutes, however, cold, pitiless reason pointed 
out the practical impossibility of mounting the guns so 
that the angle of elevation of all would be the same. 

Nevertheless, I decided to patent the scheme, reason- 
ing that, as the years went 
by, ships would be con- 
structed of increasing size 
and with increasing per- 
fection of workmanship. Fig. i 
On May 15, 1890, I ap- 
plied for a patent on *'A 
Method of Pointing Guns 
at Sea." The Patent Of- 
fice made numerous objec- 
tions, but finally granted 
a patent on September 9, 
1890. The patent was of 
course illustrated and de- 
scribed in the Patent Of- 
fice Gazette which was 
published monthly and 
sent to all the civilized 
countries in the world, 
and to the ordnance offices 
of the armies and navies 
of those countries. 

The application was illustrated with the accompanying 
diagrams, and ended with the following paragraph : 

' ' I claim — 

**The method of pointing a gun located on a rolling, 
heeling or vibrating platform, which consists in ad- 
justing a telescope, also located on said platform, and 




Method of Pointing Guns at Sea. 

U. S. Patent No. 435,925, dated 

September 9, 1890. 



126 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

movable on a transverse axis approximately parallel to 
that of the gun at an angle to the axis of the bore of the 
gun equal to a certain predetermined angle of elevation 
necessary to cause the projectile fired from said gun to 
travel to a given target, and, second, noting the moment 
when the line of sight of said adjusted telescope is 
caused by the movement of said supporting platform to 
intersect said target." 

The claim was granted by the Patent Office, and 
formed part of the Letters Patent, when finally issued. 
It underlies the whole practice of modern naval gunnery, 
and it distinctly describes the Director System recently 
adopted and usually credited to Admiral Sir Percy 
Scott, R.N., by which the instant for firing all the guns 
in a ship's broadside is determined by the intersection 
with the target of the cross hairs of a telescope, placed 
in a convenient position. 

I did not think the scheme would become practicable 
for some years to come, for the reason that it depended 
for its successful use on such an exact parallelism of the 
platforms on which the guns turned, that if the guns 
were given any angle of elevation with reference to those 
platforms, they would all be at that angle of elevation 
above the horizontal. The British and Germans did this 
many years later, and achieved such successful results 
at target practice, that the system was taken up recently 
by our navy and others, and may now be considered as 
definitely adopted. 

My main idea in taking out the patent was to com- 
bine it with some other patents that I already had 
on "range and position finders." By the method and 
apparatus described in those patents the distance 
and direction of a distant object could be ascertained, 
and all the guns of a fort, by means of electrical arrange- 
ments on their elevating-gear and training-gear, could 
be concentrated on it from central protected station ; and 
I thought that it might become possible in the future to 
put similar electrical gear on the guns of a ship, and by 



GUN-DIRECTOR 127 

combining this system with a range-finder having two 
armored observing stations, to direct and fire all the guns 
correctly from the conning-tower. 

Realizing the impossibility of using the system suc- 
cessfully for firing all the guns together, I endeavored to 
adapt it to individual guns. I sketched many schemes on 
paper for mounting a telescope on a ship's gun, much as 
one is mounted on a musket, but arranged so that, when 
the gun recoiled, the sight itself would not come back with 
the gun and strike the gun captain in the eye, but would 
stay away from it ; that is, the gun would slide under the 
sight. The favorite plan was some electrical mechan- 
ism, which, when the gun captain pressed the firing-but- 
ton, would cause the telescope to slide forward. Some 
of the plans were not very bad, but they all seemed too 
dangerous, because the mechanism might fail. In those 
days, it must be remembered, we did not have any guns 
that recoiled in the line of fire except small guns. 

One evening the idea came sharply: 

''You needn't put the telescope on the gun; just put 
it on something that moves with the gun, but does not 
recoil." 

A simple mechanism for carrying the idea into effect 
was quickly devised, and on March 9, 1881, I applied for 
a patent on ''A Telescopic Sight for Ships' Guns." 

The Patent Office, after fighting a year and a half, 
finally yielded and granted a patent, which was issued 
on September 5, 1893. 

After filing the application, I constructed an instru- 
ment. The telescope was like those used on the Vesuvius 
range-finder. It was two feet long; the object-glass was 
two inches in diameter; the field of view was eight de- 
grees ; the magnification was four. 

It was constructed by the late W. E. Stackpole, who 
had been making high-grade telescopes for surveying 
and astronomical use nearly all his life. I have never 
seen a better telescope than the one he made for the 
first naval telescope sight in 1891. The field was flat, the 



128 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

definition excellent, and the cross wires as fine as was 
compatible with strength and clear visibility. They were 
secured very firmly in the exact focal plane of the object- 
glass, and there was no discoverable parallax. The wires 
formed a single cross. 

That the telescope was rugged is proved by the fact 
that it remained in excellent condition, without any re- 
pairs whatever, for several years, two and a half of 
which were spent in the Yorktown, and one and a half 
in the San Francisco. That it was pretty nearly what 
a telescope for a telescope sight ought to be is shown by 
the strong resemblance between it and the telescopes is- 
sued in sights during the last few years. 

Shortly after making this sight, I wrote to Commander 
Folger, chief of tlio Bureau of Ordnance, asking his per- 
mission to show it to him. He replied in the affirmative, 
specifying a certain hour in the afternoon a few days 
later. I sent him the sight and followed it the next 
day. 

I appeared at the bureau at the designated time, and 
saw the instrument on his desk. 

Our interview did not last half an hour. At first Com- 
mander Folger was opposed to my idea ; but as soon as I 
had explained it fully, he reversed his attitude completely, 
and declared that I had made a very great invention. 

*'You have changed naval gunnery from a game of 
chance into a science," he said. 

When I was taking my leave, he said that he thought 
the best way in which to get an intelligent trial of the 
sight was to send it to the Yorktoivn, because Commander 
Chadwick was the captain. 

It has been my misfortune during all of my profes- 
sional life to have been almost constantly under the sus- 
picion of being unsafe and of unsound judgment, not be- 
cause I have ever had any accidents of any kind, but be- 
cause I have continually urged projects which to most 
people seemed unpractical. I have been navigator, ex- 
ecutive officer, captain, and flag-officer under virtually all 



RIDICULE FOR INVENTIONS 129 

the conditions of both peace and war, and have never, 
so far as I can remember now, made a grave profes- 
sional mistake or been seriously accused of any neg- 
lect of duty. Yet I have always been called visionary 
and unpractical, because of the things I have pro- 
posed, though every single thing except one that I have 
seriously proposed was ultimately adopted after pro- 
tracted trials. That one was my four-arm semaphore for 
signaling between ships. It was applied to several ships, 
and it received favorable reports, and the only thing that 
prevented its adoption was the invention of the wireless 
telegraph, which made it unnecessary. Every one of my 
inventions brought me mostly ridicule, but none of them 
so much as the naval telescope sight. I was frequently 
told by officers that an officer who really understood his 
profession could not have seriously considered such a 
ridiculous idea, and much less could he have submitted it 
for trial. 

During the time that I was at the Electrical Exposi- 
tion in 1884 I had been on a committee charged with 
reporting on the possible uses of electricity in war. As 
time went on, I had become more and more impressed 
with the possibilities of electricity for war purposes, 
and so I was glad to accept an invitation from the 
Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania to deliver a lecture 
in Philadelphia on ''Electricity in Warfare" in the early 
part of 1886. My lecture was treated with good-natured 
tolerance. Four years later I delivered a lecture with 
the same title on the evening of January 1, 1890, and 
this lecture was treated with the utmost consideration. 
In fact, I was amazed at the publicity which it received 
not only from the papers in Philadelphia, but from all 
the large newspapers in the country, and not only in 
their news columns, but in editorials as well. The lec- 
tures were nearly the same, but four years of education 
had elapsed. 

In May, 1890, 1 had an article in The Forum on ' ' The 
Naval Battle of the Future." I have just re-read the 



130 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

article, and I cannot but feel surprised at the good 
guesses which that article contained. It was devoted 
for the most part to indicating the increasing uses of 
scientific apparatus of all kinds, and the inevitable re- 
placement of the rough-and-ready methods of ''seamen" 
by methods and instruments of precision, and to point- 
ing out the advantages which would accrue to that navy 
which should be the most far-sighted and energetic in 
adopting and adapting them. 

I am sorry that it was not our navy, hut the German, 
that followed the course suggested in my article. 

On October 23, 1890, I gave a lecture under the aus- 
pices of the New York Electrical Society, but in the 
Columbia School of Mines. The lecture was called "The 
Modern Electrician in Time of War." One paragraph 
stated that in time of war: 

''The Navy Department would be even more hurried. 
We should certainly be called upon to commission a great 
many warships, and to equip destroyers and a great 
many merchant steamships. We should have to do the 
things that we did on the outbreak of our last war ; and 
in addition we should be confronted with the necessity 
of fitting all kinds of fine apparatus, the necessity of 
fitting electrical appliances of all descriptions, besides 
securing gun circles in place with mathematical precision, 
and of accomplishing the manifold fine work that is re- 
quired with the ordnance, navigation and engineering 
equipment of a warship of the present day." 

To meet the difficulties I said, "I propose the forma- 
tion of a corps of naval and military electricians, to as- 
sist the army and navy in their work." 

This lecture excited a great deal of attention, and was 
commented on favorably in editorials in the principal 
papers. Nothing was done, however, to carry out the 
suggestion practically until about eight years later, dur- 
ing our Spanish War, when a corps such as I proposed, 
but including mechanical engineers, was formed by Cap- 
tain Eugene Griffin, vice-president of the General Elec- 



FIRST TELEPHONES IN SHIPS 131 

trie Company, who was a graduate of West Point. 

About the same time that I applied for a patent on 
my first range-finder I applied for a patent on a ''range- 
and-position-finder" which was applicable to forts rather 
than to ships, and which measured and indicated not only 
the distance of an enemy ship, but also its direction. 
It may not be clear why apparatus should be needed to 
indicate the direction of a ship ; it may seem that it would 
only be necessary to look at the ship and note in what di- 
rection it lay. So it is necessary to state that the ap- 
paratus was intended to give the information to men 
handling guns behind fortifications, in positions such 
that they could not see the enemy ship, and the 
enemy ship could not see them. Such a range-and-posi- 
tion-finder was finally constructed and installed at Fort 
Hamilton, New York. 

The second range-finder which I put into the Baltimore 
was equipped with telephones, secured to the telescopes 
and the reading instruments so that conversations could 
be carried on between the observers and the man who 
read the range indications on the volt-meter. This was 
the first installation of the telephone ever made on hoard 
any ship. 

A few months later, when I was inspector of electric 
lighting at Cramps' shipyard, I asked Mr. Hayes, the 
chief engineer of the Bell Telephone Company, if some- 
thing could not be done to introduce the telephone on 
board ship. Mr. Hayes became interested, and he and 
I devised two sets of apparatus. One set comprised a 
circuit going from the executive officer's office to the 
master-at-arms' desk, and represented the easiest con- 
ditions of telephone service on board ship; the other 
circuit ran from the bridge to the engine-room, and rep- 
resented the most difficult conditions. Mr. Hayes se- 
cured the permission of his company, and I secured the 
permission of the Navy Department, to have these ap- 
paratus put into the Philadelphia for trial in service. 
The report made later about the circuit from the execu- 



132 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tive officer's office to the master-at-arms was favorable, 
but the report about the other apparatus was that it was 
not practical for ship use. Investigation developed the 
fact that the only trouble with this circuit was that two 
wires about two feet long rubbed against each other, 
and scraped off the insulation between them. Of course 
this was easily rectified. 

This was the second installation of the telephone ever 
made on board any ship. 



CHAPTER X 

LONDON, PAEIS, AND THE FORMIDABLE 

IN October, 1890, I applied for six months' leave, witli 
permission to go to Europe, and my request was 
granted. I was going as a representative of the Ameri- 
can Range Finder Company, which had secured patents 
on different forms of my range-finder, position-finder, 
gun-director, telescope-sight, and range-indicator in the 
principal foreign countries. My wife and daughter and 
I sailed in the early part of November, and landed in 
England, from which we went afterward to France. Be- 
fore the end of my six months' leave I applied for six 
months ' extension of leave, and my request was granted. 
I spent my time in Europe in demonstrating my range- 
finder to the British, French, and Italian navies. It is 
difficult for me to realize now how I could have done such 
a thing, or how it could have been permitted, unless I 
realize at the same time the state of public opinion then 
even in the navy. At that time there was absolute con- 
viction in the minds of everybody that the United States 
would never go to war again, and that our navy was 
maintained simply as a measure of precaution against 
the wholly improbable danger of our coast being at- 
tacked. It was not considered proper for a country as 
great as ours not to have a fine navy; but the people 
regarded the navy very much as they regarded a beauti- 
ful building or fine natural scenery, a thing to be ad- 
mired and to be proud of, but not to be used. I did 
not make the slightest secret of my intentions. In fact, 
I was careful to proclaim them as publicly as I could, 
and during all the time I was in Europe I got all the pub- 
licity I could in the papers for the trials which my in- 

133 



134 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

struments received. I was careful to tell the authori- 
ties in Great Britain, France, and Italy that, although 
that procedure was not common in Europe, I had to 
insist upon it for my own protection in the future. The 
officers of our navy who talked to me about -the matter 
expressed themselves as believing that my inventions re- 
dounded greatly to the credit of the navy, because they 
were the only things which saved the United States Navy 
from the accusation of being in every way a copy of 
foreign navies. 

My wife and little daughter and I crossed the Atlantic 
in the City of New York, an enormous vessel, we thought, 
which, with her sister, the Citi/ of Paris, was con- 
sidered the finest vessel afloat. After a narrow escape 
from ramming the coast of Ireland in a dense fog, we 
arrived at Liverpool early one morning, and promptly 
took the train for London. By an arrangement which 
I had made in New York, a representative of some bag- 
gage company greeted me on board at Liverpool, and 
received the keys of our trunks and undertook to get them 
past the custom-house authorities in Liverpool. We ar- 
rived at the Langham Hotel that evening, and our trunks 
joined us a few hours later. 

We stayed in London about a month, that is, till 
Christmas day. I had never been in London before, and 
I looked forward to seeing London with a good deal of 
awe. I was not so awestruck when I saw London as I 
had expected to be. Everything looked dirty and smoky. 
The streets seemed narrow and crooked, the houses old- 
fashioned, the hotels crude, and the business methods 
far behind those of New York. The telephone system 
was so inefficient that telephones were rarely used, there 
was no such thing as messenger service, and type-writers 
were rarely to be seen. 

I had a letter of introduction to Mr. W. 0. Smith, head 
of the firm of Elliot Brothers, the great manufacturers 
of electric and scientific instruments, and he undertook 
charge of my range-finder experiments and demonstra- 



LONDON, PARIS, AND THE FORMIDABLE 135 

tions in England, at the expense of the American Range 
Finder Company in New York. I was then just thirty-six 
years old, and Mr. Smith was a little younger. I found 
him a very interesting man, with a delightful combination 
of good nature, good looks, scientific knowledge, progres- 
siveness, and business ability. He had one or two type- 
writers in his offices, a number which did not seem very 
great for a large establishment that made scientific in- 
struments. Mr. Smith told me that he used the type- 
writer considerably for routine business correspondence, 
but that when he had a long and important letter to 
write, which had to be very carefully expressed, he al- 
ways wrote it with his own hand. 

As Mr. Smith was an exceedingly busy man, and I was 
enjoying a brief period as a gentleman of leisure, I some- 
times had to wait in Mr. Smith's outer office. There was 
a bookkeeper there, and I noticed him day after day 
copying figures in big books, and drawing red lines with 
a pen, along a cylindrical ruler. The monotonousness of 
that man's life, with its interminable copying of figures 
day after day, and drawing of red lines, aroused my 
pity, so gray and tame and devoid of any possible inter- 
est did it seem. I said to him one day : 

** Bookkeeping requires a great deal of care, doesn't 
it?" I seemed to have touched a spring; for the bent 
figure straightened up, an earnest look shot into the eyes, 
and he said to me, with a grave intensity: 

''Oh, yes, sir; it requires the greatest possible care. 
You have no idea how much care and brain work it re- 
quires, and how much responsibility it is. But I don't 
mind that, because it is so wonderfully interesting. " 

Mr. Smith installed my range-finder on the roof of his 
building, and one day the ordnance board came to exam- 
ine it. I think there were twelve members of the board, 
with Lieutenant General Hay at the head. At one sta^e 
of the proceedings I was addressed by Colonel Watkin, 
the inventor of the famous Watkin Position-Finder, with 
a remark something like this : 



136 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

**I see, Lieutenant Fiske, that your range-finder works 
very well for getting distances perpendicular to the base- 
line, and I can see that, even if the target is eight de- 
grees away from perpendicularity to the base-line, an 
error of only one per cent, would be introduced, because 
the cosine of eight degrees is only one per cent, less than 
the cosine of zero degrees. I suppose you do not at- 
tempt to get ranges unless the target is mthin eight 
degrees of perpendicularity to the base-line." 

Then I explained to him and to the other members 
of the board how the instrument automatically showed 
distances even when the target was as much as forty-five 
degrees away from perpendicularity from the base-line, 
and I proved that it did so by practical demonstrations. 

I did not get a copy of the board's report for some 
months. When I did receive it, I saw that it contained a 
statement to the effect that the use of the range-finder 
was restricted to the measurements of distances of ob- 
jects the direction of which was perpendicular to the 
base-line. 

One evening my wife and I went out to dine at the 
house of Mr. Edwin Abbey, the artist. A dense fog 
mixed with coal-dust overhung London, so that we saw 
no definite object from the time we left our hotel till we 
reached Mr. Abbey's house, or from the time we left his 
house later until we reached our hotel. We rode on top 
of an omnibus, which we were advised to do as a meas- 
ure of safety, and I have a confused memory of bumping 
into other omnibuses, seeing a faint glow of light now 
and again from some omnibus-lamp near at hand, and 
of hearing a great deal of profanity from omnibus-driv- 
ers. The next day, when walking on the sidewalk, I 
could not see my own feet. I was told that fogs of this 
kind in London were called ''pea soup," because of their 
color, due to the mixture of fog and smoke. 

One afternoon I met Poultney Bigelow in London, 
and a conversation resulted substantially as follows : 

**I have just been to a splendid lecture on tactics at 



LONDON, PARIS, AND THE FORMIDABLE 137 

the United Service Club. How many British Officers 
do you think were there?" 

**0h, I don't know; about twenty-five." 

''Well, there were just six British officers present. K 
a lecture like that had been given in Berlin, every officer 
in Berlin would have been present by order. If the Brit- 
ish Army ever comes up against the German Army, the 
German Army will stand them on their heads." 

We started for Paris on Christmas morning, 1890, 
and reached Paris that evening in time for dinner. A 
cold trip it was. My little family, with the addition of 
a pretty red-headed nurse-maid named Lili Grosclaude, 
had a compartment to ourselves, which was warmed a 
little, and only a little, by warm-water cans. We kept 
warm as best wo could by dancing jigs together. 

How different Paris was from London! That such 
a great difference could exist between cities so close to- 
gether seemed surprising at first thought; but on sec- 
ond thought one realized that what makes cities and 
persons alike is not so much propinquity as heredity. 

One of the first things I noticed in Paris the next day 
was the word " engelures'' in the drug-store windows. 
On inquiry, I ascertained that this was the French word 
for chilblains. As I had hardly heard of chilblains since 
I used to play snow-ball, I was surprised that the word 
should be accorded such publicity. In a few days I 
found out why. 

One day while we were seated at dejeuner in the de- 
lightful Hotel Lafond a magnificent creature rode up 
to the door on a magnificent horse, attired in a magnifi- 
cent uniform, and delivered an envelop nearly a foot 
square. He delivered the envelop to some one at the 
door and then rode away, his metal accoutrements gleam- 
ing in the sun, and his sword clanking an accompani- 
ment to the beat of the hoofs of his charger upon the pave- 
ment. Then this envelop was brought into the salle-d- 
manger, where we sat, and delivered with much dignity 
to me. I had never felt so grand before, and I have 



138 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

seldom felt so grand since. The letter inside the en- 
velop was signed by the minister of marine, and told me 
that orders had been given to the commander-in-chief of 
the Mediterranean Fleet to test my range-finder on board 
the flag-ship the Formidable, then at Toulon. Toulon 
was, and still is, the principal French naval station on the 
Mediterranean. 

The American Range Finder Company had made an 
arrangement with the Compagnie des Forges et Chan- 
tiers like the arrangement it had made with Elliot Broth- 
ers in London. The great ordnance inventor and engi- 
neer Canet was the head man of this company in Paris, 
and through him I made the necessary arrangements for 
sending my apparatus to Toulon and for the experiments 
to be made there. M. Canet I found, of course, to be a 
very interesting man. He spoke English perfectly and 
was a man of real, not sham, ability. In some way which 
I cannot explain, however, he did not inspire confidence, 
and I found afterward that many people did not have 
confidence in him. 

A pleasant, but exceedingly expensive, trip, made 
mostly by night, took me from Paris to Toulon, and I 
never shall forget the first view I had of the blue Medi- 
terranean when the train reached the top of the low moun- 
tains that skirt its northern shore. 

I arrived in Toulon in the latter part of the forenoon 
of some day in January, 1891. I was driven in a funny 
little hack to the Grand Hotel, and given a comfortable 
room, with a red-tiled floor and white-washed walls, from 
the windows of which I could see some beautiful and 
rugged mountains only a few miles away. A delightful 
dejeuner was served about noon, the guests congregating 
on both sides of long tables in table-d'hote fashion; and, 
as I was somewhat tired and warm, I was glad to see 
decanters of red wine and white wine placed at frequent 
intervals along the tables. I found afterward that for 
dejeuner and dinner white wine and red wine were served 



LONDON, PARIS, AND THE FORMIDABLE l.'W 

without extra charge, while an extra charge was made for 
coffee. 

I was surprised at the length of time the people spent 
at this dejeuner, or lunch; but 1 reminded myself that I 
was in the south of France, in sunny Provence, and that I 
had never heard that people work very hard in Provence. 
I learned afterward, however, that workmen and clerks 
started to work at seven o'clock in the morning, and 
worked until noon; and that, though they took a recess 
from noon until two o'clock, they began to work again 
at two o'clock and worked from then till seven. 

I remained in Toulon and in its neighborhood for six 
months or more, and I have never enjoyed life more thor- 
oughly. The climate was delightful, tljough sometimes 
it was a little hot in the middle of the day; and 1 liked 
the people tremendously. The two whom I remember 
the best were a Commander Simpson of the Chilean Navy, 
now a vice-admiral, and a M. Savattier, a man somewhat 
younger than I, who had charge of all the electrical work 
in that great ship and engine building company known 
in French by the name of Compagnie des Forges et Chan- 
tiers. I got to know Simpson very well, and I found him 
a highly accomplished and agreeable man. One ridicu- 
lous feature of our acquaintance was that we always talked 
in French together, though we both spoke English better 
than we spoke French. Frequently, one of us would 
realize this and begin to talk in English; but we would 
soon drift back again into French. This was a curious 
fact that I cannot explain except on the general principle 
of the "influence of environment." 

The morning after my arrival I took my early break- 
fast in the open air in the grounds of the hotel, and then 
went to the water-front, where I embarked in a small 
steamer that plied back and forth across the Bay of 
Toulon. A trip of about half an hour brought us to 
the towTi of La Seyne, where the ship-building works 
were situated, and are still situated. 



140 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

I found M. Savattier in his office, and I was received 
with that flattering and courteous cordiality which is so 
charming an attribute of the French gentleman. I was 
taken by him and presented to the great man (the truly 
great man) M. Legane, who was the presiding genius at 
the works, and one of the first naval constructors of 
France. I left the office of M. Legane feeling as though 
I owned the entire ship-building plant. About five years 
after this I received a letter from Savattier telling me 
of his marriage with the daughter of his chief. I have 
heard recently that Legane is dead and that Savattier 
took his place. 

I remember few men with so much pleasure and re- 
spect as Savattier. He was one of the most intense 
workers I have ever met, and he had as clear a head and 
as good a disposition and as clean a character as any 
merely human being could have. During the months in 
which we were together in the difficult relative positions 
of the inventor and the engineer who had to make the 
inventor's inventions work, we did not always agree; 
but Savattier 's sincerity was so profound, and his rea- 
sons for his actions were so good, and set forth with 
such courteous clearness, that in the end I usually fol- 
lowed where he led. 

We set up my instruments in one of the rooms of the 
company, and Savattier and I with some workmen soon 
got them to working well. The fact which stands out 
most clearly in my memory about this stage of the work 
is that the chilblains which I had contracted in Paris at- 
tacked me with extreme ferocity when I suddenly changed 
to the warm climate of Toulon and that Savattier had a 
workman bring in buckets of cold water at intervals for 
me to hold my feefin. 

/ When we had got the instruments adjusted again, the 
company installed the instruments on the upper deck of 
the Formidable. I looked with amazement and almost 
with incredulity at this ship and at the other ships near 
by, the Marceau, the Amiral Duperre, the Hoche, and 



LONDON, PAEIS, AND THE FORMIDABLE 141 

others. As I was only an American oflficer, I was ac- 
corded privileges that would not have been accorded to a 
European officer, and was permitted to see things such 
as would have been kept close secrets from an officer 
of a navy that was seriously regarded. 

I did not sleep on board the Formidable, but I was told 
that I was a member of the wardroom mess in every 
way except that I was not allowed to pay any mess bill, 
because that was paid by the French Government. No 
restriction whatever seemed to be placed upon me, for 
I went into the conning-tower, into the turrets, into the 
engine-rooms, and wherever I wished to go, sometimes 
alone, and sometimes with an officer or sailor. I did not 
ask many questions, of course ; but I never saw the slight- 
est disinclination to give me any information I asked 
for. I went back and forth in the navy-yard whenever I 
wished night or day, and I even went out with the fleet 
when it exercised at fleet manoeuvers. At these manoeuv- 
ers I usually stood on the bridge with the captain and 
other officers, and saw everything that they did. There 
were twelve battleships in the fleet, and about twenty- 
four destroyers, and all manoeuvered together. I had 
heard a great deal about the inefficiency of the French 
Navy, but I remember wishing that the United States 
Navy was inefficient in the same way. The manoeuvers 
seemed to me to be conducted with perfect skill and 
success and at the highest speed attainable, and I could 
see nothing to criticize unfavorably. On board the For- 
midable a like efficiency seemed to prevail. Everything 
was done quietly, systematically, and effectively. I was 
present at a number of conferences on the subject of my 
range-finder, held by the captain and certain officers of 
the ship. The captain presided, of course, and I was 
struck with the fact that, though the officers were very 
respectful to him, they did not hesitate in the slightest 
to disagree with him in opinion. The captain's name 
was, I think, Roustan, and he was a brother to the French 
minister to the United States at that time. 



142 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

I acquired an enormous admiration for the French 
Navy, and I think it was deserved. How this magnificent 
navy was ruined by one man, Camille Pelletan, who was 
secretary of the navy for four years, is a matter of world- 
wide knowledge and an indication of the conditions of 
French politics at that time. 

It is also a warning to other nations. 

The only time when it was intimated to me that my 
presence was not desired on board was one evening in 
the Golfe Juan, about fifty miles from Toulon, and 
perhaps five miles from Cannes, where the French fleet 
anchored during the series of manoeuvers. In the latter 
part of the afternoon Savattier said to me that one of 
the officers of the ship had intimated to him that there 
was to be a sham attack on the fleet that night by 
torpedo-boats, and that perhaps Lieutenant Fiske might 
feel more comfortable on shore. 

So Savattier and I went ashore. We found a quiet 
country inn, and Savattier told me that he would show 
me what a beautiful dinner we could get there for a very 
small price, having only the things to eat and the wine to 
drink that were grown in the immediate locality. I re- 
member we had a liter of red wine (a liter being about 
one-tenth more than a quart) and that it cost less than 
a franc. Not only w^as this wine delightful to the taste, 
but it imparted a pleasant feeling of content ; so that the 
walk to Cannes along the smooth, hard road, past beau- 
tiful villas, with green lawns and trees and bright flowers 
on our right side, with the occasional sound of a guitar 
and voices singing, while the dark-blue Mediterranean 
was on our left side, and the bright-blue sky was over- 
head, the whole scene illuminated by a gorgeous full 
moon, made a picture in my memory much clearer and 
brighter than other pictures made but yesterday. 

The second watch officer of the Formidable was Lieu- 
tenant Viaud, who had written a number of novels over 
the name of "Pierre Loti," of which the one that I liked 
the best was "Le Mariage de Loti." Viaud was a 



LONDON, PARIS, AND THE FORMIDABLE 143 

quiet, rather small man, with a low voice and a manner 
more courteous even than is usual among Frenchmen. 
His diction was said to be remarkably pure and correct, 
even to a degree which most professional literary men 
could not equal, though he was not a student of rhetoric, 
and had been educated solely as a naval officer. He 
called on me one day at the Grrand Hotel, and sent up a 
modest little card, on which was printed his name and 
rank. At one time I left Toulon and went to England, 
being absent from Toulon for about tw^o months. Dur- 
ing this interval Viaud was elected a member of the 
French Academy under the name of Pierre Loti. 
Shortly after I returned to Toulon he again called upon 
me at the hotel, but this time he sent up an enormous 
card on which were engraved only the words ''Pierre 
Loti." 

This indicated a little vanity, perhaps, but it was not 
altogether a thing to be wondered at; for an officer of 
the Forfnidable explained to me that the members of the 
French Academy outranked not only every officer in 
the navy, but everybody else in France except the 
President. 

One afternoon when I was going ashore in the boat 
after the mid-day meal I remarked that I had a head- 
ache, and asked what was good for it. One of the offi- 
cers said that absinthe was a remedy. I told him I 
had never taken absinthe, but should like to try it; and 
I asked him how much to take. He told me to go to a 
cafe and get the ordinary drink that was served. I 
did this, and swallowed the whole drink, though I did not 
like the taste at all. Then I walked toward the hotel ; but 
as I neared it, the thought occurred to me that perhaps, 
as I was not accustomed to absinthe, it might intoxicate 
me, and that therefore I had better walk out somewhere 
where nobody knew me. 

I did this, and walked for a considerable time, ob- 
serving my gait very carefully lest I stagger. I saw 
no signs of this. After walking perhaps a mile, I came 



144 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

to a small inclosed car on wheels, such as photographers 
sometimes use in the United States, on the outside of 
which was a written statement to the effect that Madame 
Somebody was inside the car and that she could read 
the future. It occurred to me at once that this was a 
good opportunity for me to ascertain exactly what was 
going to happen to me in my various projects. 

So I knocked at the door, and was admitted by a woman 
who said that she was a clairvoyant and could tell my 
fortune. I asked her how much she charged, and she 
said five francs ; then correcting herself hastily, she said 
ten francs. I told her I w^as very glad to meet her, be- 
cause I was desirous of knowing what was going to 
happen to me. So she told me what was going to hap- 
pen to me, and I gave her ten francs. Just as I was 
about to go, after thanking her cordially, she told me that 
there was something about my future which was very 
exciting indeed. I asked her what it was, and she said 
she could not quite see unless she went into a trance. I 
asked her to go into a trance, but she said that would 
cost fifty francs. I told her I did not care if it did, 
because I wanted to know. Then she called for ''Louis," 
and Louis came into the little room, and put her into a 
trance, and she told me the most wonderful things. 

I was very much impressed indeed, and I walked away 
with a feeling of great elation ; but just as I was walking 
up the steps of the Grand Hotel, some cloud seemed sud- 
denly to pass out of my mind, and I saw what a fool I 
had been. The next day I told some of the officers about 
it, and asked if it could have been due to the absinthe, 
and they said, yes. One of them told me that if a 
man not accustomed to absinthe took an ordinary drink 
of it, it was apt to give him ''les idees bizarres," to make 
him partly crazy for a while. 



CHAPTER XI 

SPEZZIA, IL TEBBIBILE ^ AND CAP BRUN 

DURING the time that the first trials of the range- 
finder were going on aboard the Formidable, I 
was in correspondence with the ministry of marine in 
Rome about having my range-finder tried on board an 
Italian ship, and when these first trials were com- 
pleted the Italian Government had given their consent. 
Previous to this the Italian technical and other papers 
had devoted considerable attention to it. 

I left Toulon for Spezzia, the principal naval station in 
Italy, in the early part of March, having sent my ap- 
paratus on ahead. As I did not speak Italian, the com- 
pany kindly loaned to me a man as interpreter who 
spoke both French and Italian and whose name was 
Laurent Bisio. Bisio was of the upper grade of work- 
men, but he was one of the handsomest men and one of 
the most distinct characters I have ever met. To me he 
seemed always to be acting. Whether he was or not I do 
not know; but he seldom said anything without gesticulat- 
ing, and his gesticulations were not little awkward jerks, 
but wide sweeps of the arms and body, accompanied with 
what might be called facial gestures. When I first met 
him, realizing that I might keep him from home for 
weeks, I asked him if he was married. He immedi- 
ately raised both arms high above his head with a mag- 
nificent sweep, launched forward with his left foot, which 
he brought down smartly on the floor, rolled his eyes, and 
exclaimed in a loud voice, *'Ma foi, pourquoi?" (''My 
faith, why?") 

He went to Spezzia ahead of me with the apparatus, 
and the first day after my arrival there he became so 

145 



146 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

angry with me because he saw me talking French with 
some Italian officers that he gave a dramatic impersona- 
tion of outraged dignity on the spot, and declared his 
intention of going back to Toulon "toute de suite.'' A 
little judicious flattery brought him to terms, however; 
and after that he was not only good natured, but exceed- 
ingly efficient. 

As I had never been in Europe before, I decided to 
stop one night at Monte Carlo. I arrived there about 
six o'clock in the evening, partook of a delightful din- 
ner at one of the restaurants, and spent the evening at 
the casino. Fortunately, my visit happened on a night 
when the moon was full and shining from an almost 
cloudless sky; so that all the beauties and glories of 
Monte Carlo in the moonlight that I had heard about 
were presented to me in their perfection. The casino and 
the gambling-rooms were interesting and exciting, and 
so were the beautiful women whom I saw strolling about, 
clothed in the latest Parisian styles, and exhibiting the 
height of the elegance and expensiveness of the world of 
fashion. I spent the entire evening in the casino, so 
fascinated with the scene and with the possibilities which 
the scene suggested that I felt not the slightest tempta- 
tion to gamble at the tables. Had I stayed there longer, 
until the novelty had passed away and the tinselly char- 
acter of its beauties had become revealed, doubtless the 
temptation to gamble would have come to me. But that 
first night and only night I spent at Monte Carlo pre- 
sented a scene so wonderful that mere gambling seemed 
dull and tame. 

After the evening's play was over, I walked about the 
beautiful grounds in company with some young man 
who, for a few francs, harrowed my soul with the most 
ghastly stories of suicide I had ever heard. On my way 
to the hotel afterward I half expected to stumble over 
suicides at short intervals on the sidewalk; but if there 
were any, they escaped my notice. 

Next morning I was to take the train at ten o'clock. I 



SPEZZIA, IL TERRIBILE, AND CAP BKUN 147 

had a small trunk with me, and as I knew I should have 
to open my trunk at Vingtimille, on the border between 
France and Italy, I put my hand into my pocket, to see 
if I had my trunk-key with me. This happened at the 
railroad station, while I was waiting for the train. To 
my horror, I could not find my key. As I had a few min- 
utes to spare, I drove quickly back to the hotel, and rushed 
to my room ; but I could not find the key. I interrogated 
everybody I could see there, but without success. So I 
drove down to the station again, and arrived there just 
in time to catch the train. 

The trip to Vingtimille lasted perhaps three hours, 
during which I searched my pockets at intervals to find 
the key, but without success. When we arrived at 
Vingtimille, our trunks were taken into the official room 
for examination, and I was asked for my key. I remem- 
ber the expression of mingled contempt and incredulity 
on the face of the examiner when I told him I had lost 
my key. I have never felt more like the "meek in 
spirit" than I did then. My status and my self-respect 
were raised, however, v/hen I produced a letter from the 
minister of marine in Rome. The official then said he 
would telegraph to Rome and get permission to let my 
trunk go through without examination ; but that the an- 
swer could not possibly come back in time to let me take 
the next train, and I would have to wait for the following 
train. 

So I walked about the rocky and picturesque old town, 
which was so strangely placed on the side of a moun- 
tain that it looked as if a man could fall from one end 
of the town to the other and break his neck. 

Finally, a favorable answer came, and I took the fol- 
lowing train for Spezzia. Feeling much relieved, I sat 
down on my seat in my compartment, and thrust my 
hands into my trousers-pockets with a feeling of con- 
tent. There in my right pocket, where it had been all 
the time, was the key of my trunk ! 

Experiences a little like this have occurred to me 



148 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

sometimes since. I suppose the reason is that, if the 
mind is intent on any subject, — if, for instance, it is try- 
ing to reason out the whereabouts of a lost article, — 
the fingers lose their sensitiveness temporarily. The 
mind cannot be concentrated on two things at the same 
time. 

I arrived at Spezzia late in the afternoon, about dusk, 
and just before dinner, an excellent time for arriving 
anywhere. I was driven to the Grand Hotel, and then 
there ensued half an hour of talking and bargaining with 
the hotel proprietor about the room I was to have, the 
various extras which I desired, and the prices I should 
have to pay. After a long and laborious discussion, it 
was arranged that I should have a large and handsome 
room, with light on two sides, finished in red, and that 
I should have a certain large number of candles, hot 
water, etc., with three meals, and red and white wines for 
lunch and dinner, all for ten francs, or about $1.90, per 
day. 

I stayed in Spezzia for about two weeks. I think I had 
a better time in Spezzia in those two weeks than I had 
ever had before or have ever had since. Vice-Admiral 
Racchia, the commandant of the station, did me the honor 
to call on me and ask me to dinner for the following 
evening. It seemed to me that virtually all the naval 
officers in Spezzia did the same thing. They seemed to 
make me the guest not only of the station, but of every 
officer in the station. There was a delightful company 
at the hotel also, mostly army and navy people ; and after 
dinner, during which there was always music by a band 
or orchestra, the entire party would assemble in the 
parlor for social conversation and for piano music and 
singing of a social kind. Of course the music was al- 
ways good. 

The admiral's aid was a lieutenant named Scotti. One 
day we were walking in the arsenal, or navy-yard, and he 
suddenly exclaimed, *'0h, you are an inventor; perhaps 
you would be interested in a new American invention 



SPEZZIA, IL TERRIBILE, AND CAP BRUN 149 

whicli we have just received." I followed him into the 
admiral's offices, and Scotti took me up to a desk, on 
which was an object covered with a black cloth. Scotti 
removed this cloth and disclosed a type-writer. I asked 
him what it was, and he said it was an invention for 
writing. Then he put a piece of paper into the machine, 
and struck the key marked ''A," and then showed me 
*'A" printed on the paper. I asked him if he thought it 
was a good invention, and he replied about as follows : 

''Well, it is very ingenious, but I do not know whether 
it is practical or not. Of course it has the advantage that 
it is clearer than the handwriting of some men; but on 
the other hand it has a disadvantage of being extremely 
slow." 

My range-finder was installed on board a small ship 
called II Terribile. We went out day after day, making 
tests with the instrument. These tests were conducted 
with the greatest care and precision by a special board 
of which the head was a rear-admiral. I had never been 
in Italy before, and so the memory of those radiant days, 
steaming over the blue-watered Bay of Spezzia, sur- 
rounded by picturesque mountains, and rocks and 
campaniles, when the weather was neither hot nor cold, 
in the company of those delightful men, made an impres- 
sion on my mind and heart that is clear and beautiful 
still. 

I had made arrangements with the War Department of 
Italy also for tests of my range-finder in some fort, but 
for some reason which I do not now recall I had to leave 
Italy and give up the trials. 

I did not return to Toulon then, but went direct to 
Paris by way of Genoa, Turin, and the Mont Cenis 
Tunnel. The only things I remember about Genoa are 
the facts that I had to wait there two or three hours, 
that I was much struck with the natural beauty of the 
place, that I brought my wife a pretty sample of the 
Genoese jeweler's art, that while I sat at lunch in some 
restaurant a lady near me asked me what time it was, that 



150 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

when the proprietor presented me with my bill it in- 
cluded a payment for that lady's lunch, and that I de- 
clined the honor of paying for it. 

I had engaged and paid for a berth in a sleeping-car 
for my trip from Turin to Paris ; but when I applied for 
my ticket half an hour before the train left, I was told 
that I could not have the berth, because an English gen- 
tleman had subsequently taken both berths in that com- 
partment, although he needed only one. When I remon- 
strated, I was told that I could have my money back, 
but could n't have the berth. As I was due in Paris the 
next morning, I was confronted with the necessity of 
sitting up all night or else persuading the English gentle- 
man to let me have my berth. I explained matters to 
him, and met with the reception that one often met with 
from Englishmen in those days when traveling. So 
I accepted the situation as good naturedly as I could. 

On getting to my compartment just before the train 
started, I found it occupied by a powerfully built man, 
who greeted me very pleasantly, and with whom I soon 
entered into an interesting conversation. He was evi- 
dently an Irishman; in fact, he told me that he was a 
doctor who lived in Dublin, and that he had just taken 
a patient to the warm climate of the Riviera. We made 
the long trip through the tunnel pleasantly, and I soon 
declared him to myself to be such an extremely agreeable 
man that I was almost glad that I had lost my berth. 
As time went on, however, I gradually realized that, no 
matter what subject I talked about, he would soon get 
back to another subject, and that other subject was al- 
ways the same. I could get him off that subject with 
little difficulty, but I could not keep him off. By the time 
it was nightfall I realized that I was to spend the night 
with a man who was almost a lunatic, if not wholly so, 
and I noted that he seemed to be gradually becoming 
excited. I was entirely unarmed, and we were alone in a 
compartment that was locked on the outside. I humored 
him, but at the same time kept a steady eye on him. 



SPEZZIA, IL TERRIBILE, AND CAP BRUN 151 

Finally, about ten o'clock, we made a stop somewhere, 
and an extremely unattractive and half-dirty man got into 
the compartment. I almost embraced him. 

After spending a fortnight with my little family at the 
Hotel Lafond in Paris, I went to London, arriving in 
the early days of April. The next morning after break- 
fast I recognized two unfortunate conditions, one that 
I had contracted a cold in the head and the other that it 
was a holiday. I was confronted with a gloomy day. 
Glancing about the room, I saw on a table a little book 
which had what seemed to me an extremely silly name, 
''Three Men in a Boat, to Say Nothing of the Dog." I 
opened its pages almost in disgust, but immediately saw 
something that made me laugh. 

I did not stir from that room the rest of the day 
except to take two scanty meals, and despite gloomy 
weather and a cold, I spent one of the most mirthful days 
I can now recall. 

During the time of my absence from England the 
British Admiralty had consented to try my range-finder, 
and Elliot Brothers had made arrangements to have it 
installed on board a small vessel of perhaps eight hun- 
dred tons, called the Sea Gull. So I went to Portsmouth, 
which is one of the great naval stations of England, and 
there I met a lot of naval officers at Whale Island. The 
contrast between the British officers and the French and 
Italian was noticeable. The British officers were evi^. 
dently more energetic and hardy, but apparently less pre- 
cise and thoughtful and also less polite. 

They gave my range-finder some very common-sense 
trials, however, and the instrument did all that I had 
claimed for it. I was extremely disquieted, however, by 
the performance of another range-finder that was tried 
in competition with mine. It was an ''optical" range- 
finder, which required only one observer, and was much 
simpler and cheaper than mine. It did not give so good 
results as mine, but it gave much better results than I had 
supposed possible, and I was enough of an optician and 



152 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

mechanician to realize that it could be improved, and that 
possibly it might be improved to such a degree as to off- 
set the superiority in accuracy and quickness which mine 
had thus far established over all others. As years went 
by, my unhappy expectation was fulfilled, not by that par- 
ticular instrument, but by one considerably like it. The 
instrument tried in the Sea Gull was invented by a man 
named Mallock, a brother of William H. Mallock, who 
wrote *'Is Life Worth Living?" The improvement was 
made by two young Scotch professors named Barr and 
Stroud, and it consisted mainly in forming a separate 
image on the focal plane of the rays of light coming from 
each object glass. The two images were separated by a 
vertical line instead of moving about together on the 
focal plane. 

Shortly after arriving in London, I had called on Mr. 
Dredge, the editor of Engineering, and shown him pic- 
tures of my instruments and the official reports and tabu- 
lated results of my trials in the Formidable and the 
Terrihile. He expressed himself as much interested, but 
he kept most of the conversation on the subject of flowers 
and their culture, which he said were the only really in- 
teresting things in the world to him. 

In the course of our conversation I told him I had 
noticed that all the great cities in the world were in bad 
climates, and that regions where the climate was de- 
lightful were very sparsely populated ; and I asked him 
why this was. He answered that the most beautiful 
flowers did not grow in good climates, but in bad climates, 
where it was necessary to give them special care in hot- 
houses; and that human beings, similarly, could not be- 
come especially fine unless they lived in climates where 
they had to be treated in a way like hothouse flowers. 
Some time afterward I proposed the same question to 
the wardroom mess of the Formidable. No one seemed 
to have an answer ready, but finally the senior watch 
officer said, "11 faut lutter." ("It is necessary to strug- 
gle.") 



SPEZZIA, IL TERRIBILE, AND CAP BRUN 153 

About two weeks after my conversation with Mr. 
Dredge, I was surprised to see in front of me in some 
window '^FISKE'S RANGE-FINDER AND ELEVA- 
TION-INDICATOR," together with some excellent illus- 
trations and diagrams. Looking a little more closely, I 
saw that they were printed on a page of Engineering, 
dated April 24, 1891, and that the descriptions and illus- 
trations covered a page and a quarter of that very im- 
portant and influential periodical. After full descrip- 
tions of the theory and construction of the range-finder 
and the ''elevation-indicator" (''telescope sight"), 
Engineering quoted from the official reports of the 
Formidable and the Terribile. In the Terribile the base 
was only 58.9 meters long, and even with this short base 
the average error at 2000 meters was found to be only 
2.6 per cent., or 52 yards; and at 3000 meters to be 3.9 
per cent., or 117 meters, an accuracy sufficient for the 
naval gunnery of those days, and unequaled until then. 

The elevation-indicator was described and illustrated, 
and the fact was pointed out that it could be mounted 
either on a gun-carriage or "on the conning-tower of 
the ship, ' ' and that it ' ' substitutes for the uncertain line 
of the guursights the optical axis of an accurate tele- 
scope." 

Despite the thorough publicity given to my elevation- 
indicator then, as well as formerly in publications more 
obscure, no one has ever disputed my title to the inven- 
tion and development of the telescope sight not only as 
placed on a. gun, but also as installed in a ship, so as 
to direct the fire of the whole battery. Yet one sees ref- 
erences occasionally to "Sir Percy Scott's gun-director 
System"! 

On September 29, 1891, The New York Times published 
half a column account of it, with the head-lines : 

"A New Naval Instrument. 

' ' The Yorktown Equipping with Telescopic Gun-Direc- 
tors." 

The article was carefully written, and described cor- 



154 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

rectly and clearly the construction and method of opera- 
tion of the instrument. One paragraph read as follows : 

The new device is the invention of Lieut. B. A. Fiske of the 
navy. Lieut. Fiske was the first imbued with the idea of fitting 
a single telescope sight in the conning tower; and, by suitable 
circuit arrangements, worked both at the gun and in the conning 
tower, firing from the latter position: In other words, it was 
proposed that the crew of each piece load its gun, give it the 
necessary lateral train, and angle of elevation, then close a cir- 
cuit, and await the actual firing. This would be effected from 
the conning tower, by the closing of a second circuit, at the 
moment of target and cross hair intersection. 

The article then stated that I recognized the fact that 
if that scheme were adopted, ''the functions [of each gun 
crew] would become little better than those of coal heav- 
ers," and that "in consequence, Lieut. Fiske decided to 
fit his sight to each gun, and thus allow individual shoot- 
ing to count." This did not state quite correctly my rea- 
son. My reason was that in those days ships were not 
constructed so accurately as now, and it would have 
been virtually impossible to know in the conning-tower 
what the elevations of the various guns were, because 
of the fact that the gun-tracks were not necessarily paral- 
lel to one another. I never abandoned the idea, but 
I had to wait for better ships. 

At this time I received a telescope sight from New 
York and another range-finder. I had Elliot Brothers 
make some changes in the range-finder, and then I took 
both to Paris. Going across the channel, the weather 
was very sloppy. As we neared the French coast, I went 
forward near the bow. Seeing no one near, and feeling 
inspired by the sight ahead and the fresh breeze, I de- 
claimed some lines from "Richelieu," ending "France, 
beloved France, who shall proclaim divorce 'twixt me 
and thee?" Unfortunately for my peace of mind, a 
feminine titter sounded in my ears just then, and I saw 
a young woman and a young man gazing at me with evi- 
dent amusement from the shelter of a deck-house. 



SPEZZIA, IL TERRIBILE, AND CAP BRUN 155 

I ran up to Berlin from Paris not because I thought 
there was any chance of introducing my range-finder into 
the German Navy or because I cared very much about it, 
for at that time the German Navy was not seriously re- 
garded. I thought I ought to go to Berlin before going 
to the United States, and I was glad afterward that I 
went. I was tremendously impressed with the ord-erli- 
ness and precision and cleanliness of everything. Effi- 
ciency was evident to the most casual glance. I did not 
see any large military forces, but those I did see im- 
pressed me as indicating a greater degree of precision 
and energy than I had noted in the soldiers in Paris. 

On the way back, I occupied a compartment during 
the day with a man about my own age who read several 
books he had with him, some in Russian, some in German, 
and some in French. We conversed occasionally during 
the day in English, which he spoke as well as I. I do 
not know who he was, but the next morning, when we ar- 
rived in Paris, he was met by a handsome carriage, with 
men in livery, and a tall lady who was richly dressed. 

After a short stay in Paris, I went again to Toulon. 
The tests made on board the Formidable had been 
declared by the board to be successful; but it was stipu- 
lated that, before the instrument could be accepted, the 
needle of the volt-meter would have to be made about 
twice as long and the scale twice as wide in order that 
the indications might be more easily read. The stipula- 
tion was a wise one in a way, but it was extremely difficult 
to carry out, because it entailed such changes in the volt- 
meter as might ruin it altogether unless they were very 
skilfully made. As I had only two volt-meters with me, 
and as they were of American pattern and of a kind that 
no one in France knew much about, I was extremely loath 
to make the attempt. I saw that I must do so, however, 
and so I borrowed from Savattier the most skilful work- 
man he had, and promised to give the workman one hun- 
dred and fifty francs if he would make the change suc- 
cessfully. 



156 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

The whole job of making the change did not take more 
than two hours, but when the anxiety was over, I felt 
as if I had done a hard day 's work. The workman him- 
self realized the danger of a careless or clumsy move- 
ment on his part, and evidently relaxed when his last 
touch had been given ; for when I handed him his hundred 
and fifty francs, he stretched out a trembling hand to 
receive it. 

Shortly after reaching Paris on my first visit, I had 
called at the office of the Artillerie de Terre to arrange 
for a trial of my range-finder in a fort. The officers 
there were extremely courteous and evidently interested. 
The one whom I remember the best is Captain G. Moch, 
who later wrote an article for the Revue d' Artillerie on 
my system of range-finding and gun-pointing. My first 
visit to this office was only a few days after I had landed 
in Paris, and I remember my feelings when I was sud- 
denly confronted with the necessity of talking French to 
a dozen men at the same time. They were so extremely 
polite, however, and gave me such grave assurances as 
to the beauty of my French, that I was encouraged to go 
ahead. I know that I must have made a great many mis- 
takes, but no sign of this fact did any of them betray. 

So, at Toulon, after putting the range-finder back on 
board the Formidable for the additional trial needed, to 
see if the changes demanded by the board had been satis- 
factorily made, Savattier and I got to work on the other, 
to get it ready to be installed in a fort at Cap Brun. 
While we were getting it ready, one of the officers of the 
fort came to make a preliminary examination of it. 
He conducted the proceedings with a great deal of 
solemnity and went into every detail. After he left, 
Savattier said to me in a perfectly matter-of-fact way, 
''II est presque idiot." (''He is almost an idiot.") 

It did not take Savattier and me a long time to get the 
range-finder ready, and for the army officers there to 
have it transported to Cap Brun. There the instruments 
were installed in two positions somewhat more than a 



SPEZZIA, IL TERRIBILE, AND CAP BRUN 157 

hundred yards apart, thus giving a long base-line. In 
many ways the conditions were ideal for accurate range- 
finding as compared with the conditions on board ship, 
because of the steady platform, the long base, and the 
great clearness of the air which usually prevailed. In 
one way the conditions were more difficult, and that was 
that the great changes of temperature caused by a bright 
sun in the day-time and great radiation in the night- 
time, which always prevail in a clear atmosphere, caused 
considerable changes in the resistances of the electrical 
circuit. 

Anticipating this, I had made the wires connecting the 
two instruments very large, and had covered them with 
lead, so that they could be buried in the earth. On the 
first trial we found the change in resistance so great as 
seriously to affect the accuracy of the instrument; but 
by burying the wires deeply, and then more deeply still, 
we managed to overcome the trouble. 

The officers of the Artillerie de Terre were much in- 
terested in this instrument, because of the simplicity of 
the apparatus and the extreme quickness — almost in- 
stantaneousness — with which it gave indications of dis- 
tances and angles. The officer who took the most inter- 
est was a Captain Fabre, who belonged in the central 
office- in Paris. He came from Paris to Toulon to take 
direct charge of the experiments, and to be the head of 
the board which reported the results achieved. When 
the experiments were finished, the officers did not at- 
tempt to hide from me the gratification which they felt, 
and the future which they thought they foresaw. 

I took with me from London to Toulon the elevation- 
indicator, which I called a '' telescopic sight," and which 
the French called "hausse telescopique/' I took it on 
board the Formidable, and explained it to the officers ; but 
while they were quite polite, I could see that they did 
not regard it favorably. Some of them seemed to re- 
gard it as too scientific, and others as not scientific 
enough. This latter class had become much impressed 



158 FROM MIDSPIIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

with an experiment which had been recently made on 
board a French battle-ship, in which a lens of great focal 
length had been so placed on a gun that the rays of 
light from a distant target and from the gun-sights were 
so concentrated by the lens on a screen that the two 
images were seen together, the turret being made com- 
pletely dark. On one occasion the captain's little daugh- 
ter was told to press an electric key, which the gunnery 
officer put into her hand, just as soon as she saw the im- 
age of the gun-sight on the screen meet the picture of the 
target. She did so, and the shell hit the target. I must 
admit that this French scheme alarmed me considerably, 
though I did not think it as good as mine. Mine was 
ultimately declared to be the better. 

Before leaving New York I had invented a plan for 
signaling ranges from the range-finder to the guns. My 
plan was to produce a complete gunnery system whereby 
I could measure the ranges with a range-finder, telegraph 
the ranges to the guns with a range-indicator, and utilize 
the ranges for hitting the target by an absolutely ac- 
curate telescope sight. Naturally, I talked about this 
system to all the officers I met, though I did not have 
with me any range-indicator apparatus for the reason 
that I had not yet constructed any. In the light of sub- 
sequent events I remember with interest the fact that 
the idea which pleased them most was the range-indicator, 
and the idea that pleased them least was the telescope 
sight. I do not think there was a single officer to whom 
I spoke about the telescope sight who showed the slightest 
respect for it. The British officers did not seem enough 
interested in the idea even to consider it, while the 
French and Italian officers thought it very interesting, but 
unpractical. The idea of attaching a telescope to a big 
gun and firing the gun with the telescope on it seemed 
preposterous. I knew that it was an old idea to use a 
telescope for pointing a gun in a fort, but that the tele- 
scope was pulled off the gun smartly just before the 



SPEZZIA, IL TERRIBILE, AND CAP BRUN 159 

gun was fired. Of course, while such a scheme might 
work fairly well in connection with a fixed gun on land, 
it could not be successfully used on board a rolling ship. 

In the latter part of August the range-finder on board 
the Formidable and the range-finder at Cap Brun were 
declared to be successes, and both instruments were ac- 
cepted by the French Government. So I returned to 
Paris believing that I had made the most important in- 
vention in gunnery appliances, for use on both land and 
sea, that had been made for many years. In fact, I was 
told so by many people. This belief was strengthened 
when I reached Paris by receiving several copies of a 
pamphlet of thirty-six pages, issued by the Revue d'Artil- 
lerie, with the title '^Appareils Telemetriques et de- 
Pointage, Systeme Fiske, Par G. Moch, Capitaine 
D'Artillerie. " Captain Moch's pamphlet went into the 
subject very carefully, mainly from the point of view of 
an army officer, but largely from the point of view of 
naval gunnery as well as army gunnery. His conclusions 
were highly favorable. 

The translation of one of the sentences at the end of 
his pamphlet is, ''We believe that the principle common 
to all the apparatus which we have described is able to 
be generalized, and to supply a great help to all the 
sciences which rest upon measurements of precision." 

This pamphlet was followed shortly afterward by a 
similar, but more extensive, one, written by an Italian 
named Santarelli, who had been a civilian member of 
the board that had tried my range-finder in the Terribile. 

Naturally I came to feel that I had made an invention 
which was not only of value in gunnery, but capable of 
application to many other arts. This belief I still hold, 
and it is a matter of great regret to me that I had to 
give up developing it. It must be understood that, if a 
man gives up an invention before he has brought it to 
perfection, the invention soon becomes discredited, and 
further progress with it by others is virtually stopped, 



160 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

because other men look on it as something which has 
proved to be unpractical, and which therefore should be 
avoided. 

My wife and I, with our little daughter Carrie, went to 
Havre by train, arriving there the night before sailing. 
The hotel seemed a rather gay place for a respectable 
family, and I was not pleased to see in one of the rooms 
on the ground floor a gambling machine called les 
chevaux (the horses), in which one bet on certain me- 
chanical horses that ran around a ring. On retiring 
that evening I spoke of the gambling-machine to my 
wife, and she said, '*Yes, Carrie won ten francs." 

We had a stormy voyage to New York, and a fire on 
board besides. In the old Normandie, as in the French 
fleet, I looked in vain for those signs of inefficiency and 
intense excitability that I had heard so much about as 
characteristic of the French in emergencies at sea. 



CHAPTER XII 

CEUISING IN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS AND 
THE BERING SEA 

TWO or three days after our return to New York I 
went on board the Yorktown, then alongside the 
dock at the navy-yard in Brooklyn to see what results 
had been achieved with the telescope sight at target prac- 
tice. I knew the telescope sight had been attached to 
the carriage of the forward six-inch gun on the starboard 
side, but I had not been able to learn what results had 
been attained. Commander F. E. Chadwick had been 
the captain when the sight had been installed about a 
year before; Commander Robley D. Evans had recently 
taken his place. 

I went into the cabin, and was politely received by the 
captain, who offered me a cigar. To my surprise, he did 
not tell me about the telescope sight, and when I finally 
broached the subject, he told me he had never heard of 
it. I then told him what it was, and that it had been 
attached to one of the guns in his ship. He seemed to 
be extremely surprised, and at once sent for Lieutenant 
Bradbury, the ordnance officer. 

When Bradbury came into the cabin, and the captain 
asked him if he knew anything about the telescope sight, 
he seemed nonplussed for a while ; but finally he said that 
he thought it was on board somewhere, perhaps in the 
ordnance storeroom. The captain told him to please find 
out. Bradbury left the cabin, and returned in about fif- 
teen minutes with a gunner 's mate, who had the telescope 
sight in his arms. The captain seemed interested, and 
said he would like me to come on board some day and 
show them how to attach it to the gun ; in which case, he 

161 



162 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

said, he would have the navy-yard workmen secure it 
there. I told him that had all been done, and that I could 
put the instrument in place in two minutes. So we went 
forward to the forecastle, where the gun was, and I se- 
cured the telescope sight in place. I then explained to 
them how it was to operate, and how simple it was. I 
could see that they both understood how to use it, but 
that they did not regard it seriously. 

As my leave was now finished, I foresaw that I should 
soon have to decide whether to resign from the navy 
and devote myself to the development of my inventions, 
or return to the navy and enter again the comparatively 
uninteresting, but more secure, career of the naval officer. 
It was now the beginning of October, 1891, and I was 
just thirty-seven years old. The new navy was pro- 
gressing; but the people of the United States did not 
regard it very seriously, and there were no indications 
whatever that a man of my age and rank could have any 
sort of career. My age was such, in comparison with 
that of officers near me in rank, that I knew I must even- 
tually become a rear-admiral, the highest rank then held ; 
but I knew also that I would not obtain this rank, ac- 
cording to the prospects then existing, until a very short 
time before I retired at the age of sixty-two. I made as 
accurate a calculation as I could, based on the theory of 
probabilities, and concluded that I would remain a lieu- 
tenant until about the age of fifty, be a lieutenant-com- 
mander from the age of fifty to fifty-nine, be a com- 
mander from the age of fifty-nine to sixty-one, and go 
through the grades of captain and rear-admiral and re- 
tire in my sixty-second year. 

This was not a very exciting prospect; but I thought 
that, on account of my inventions and the really un- 
precedented experiences I had had in Europe, I would 
probably be given such duties, both on shore and afloat, 
that my inventive ability and scientific attainments, 
especially in electricity, would be utilized in develop- 
ing and perfecting the ordnance and gunnery equip- 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 163 

ments of the new navy. In other words, it seemed to 
me that, although I might never attain any special 
success as a naval officer, I might nevertheless live the 
kind of life that every man likes to live; that is, the 
life in which he feels that he is doing the best he can 
with the one or five or ten talents committed to his keep- 
ing. I realized, however, that this might be merely a 
dream, and that the sentiment of the navy at that time, 
and especially the sentiment in the Bureau of Navigation, 
of which the chief was Commodore Ramsay, was that all 
naval officers were the same except in the matter of rank. 
I knew that Commodore Ramsay was enforcing the prac- 
tice of absolute rotation in office both at sea and on 
shore, and that the individual characteristics of officers 
had little influence in deciding the duties to which he as- 
signed them. One day he told me that, in the matter 
of inventing, officers were all the same ; and he stated, as 
proof of this, that on one occasion, when he had been com- 
mandant of the torpedo station, he had given out the 
problem of designing a mechanism to accomplish a cer- 
tain purpose, and that the solutions of the twelve offi- 
cers in the class had been virtually identical. The dis- 
tinction between the inventor and the designing engineer 
is still foggy in the minds of many people. 

Two days after my visit to the Yorktown I received or- 
ders to report for duty on board that vessel two days 
later; that is, on October 6. I knew that she was to 
sail for the Pacific, and so I had to do considerable hurry- 
ing to get all my affairs arranged, especially with the 
range-finder company. The company wanted me to re- 
sign, but was unable to offer me any adequate guaranty 
for the future. I think I would have resigned, and 
taken the chances, if my friends had not all advised me 
otherwise and if my health had been more assured. As 
matters were as they were, I made up my mind not to 
resign, and so I reported on board the Yorktoum in due 
season. Two days later we steamed out to sea, bound 
for the 5^est Indian island of St. Thomas, then a posses- 



164 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

sion of Denmark, but now a possession of the United 
States. 

I found life on board the Yorhtown a change from 
the life that I had been living for a year. There were 
thirteen of us in the mess : the executive officer, the navi- 
gator, five watch officers, of whom I was the second, a 
chief engineer, two assistant engineers, a doctor, a pay- 
master and a paymaster's clerk. We had our messroom 
on the gun-deck, and our rooms on the berth-deck, in the 
wardroom proper. There were six rooms on each side, 
mine being the third from forward on the starboard side. 
My room was comfortable in its way, not being too largo 
and not encumbered with a bureau. My bureau stood in 
the wardroom ''country" outside my door. I could lie 
in my bunk and reach out from it and draw my curtain 
without inconvenience. 

We had a rough trip dowm, during which time I had 
considerable leisure in which to plan what I should do, 
but almost nothing to do. The twenty-four hours' duty 
of each day were divided among the five watch officers, 
so that each of us stood watch on deck for four and 
four-fifths hours per day. Unless the weather was bad, 
we had some kind of drill from half past nine to ten in 
the forenoon, and sometimes setting-up exercises about 
five in the afternoon. As the ship was rarely under sail, 
and as the engines did the work of pushing the ship along, 
there was not much for an officer of the watch to do except 
to walk back and forth across the bridge. In port he 
walked back and forth on the quarter-deck instead of on 
the bridge. As all the drills were of a simple character, 
and as I had learned them in previous cruises, I did not 
find them very laborious or exciting. 

We spent two days in St. Thomas, just enough to lay 
in a supply of coal. It was interesting to me to recall 
the fact that I had invented my range-finder there four 
years before, to recollect how much had passed in my 
humble life since then, and to realize that I was start- 
ing out on another cruise in a ship much less interesting 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 165 

and important than the Atlanta; so that professionally 
I seemed to have gone backward instead of forward in 
the intervening years. 

A hot trip took us to Bahia, in Brazil, about which 
the most interesting thing seemed to be the continuous 
prevalence of yellow fever. We coaled as rapidly as 
we could, and then started for Montevideo, in Uruguay. 
One night I was to have the mid-watch, which lasts from 
midnight to four a. m. In anticipation of this, I turned 
in early, and as the night was warm and the sea was 
smooth, I left open my air-port, a small round window 
just abreast the top of my bunk, following a practice 
which was usual with us in calm weather. Unfortu- 
nately, a sudden change in the weather took place, con- 
sisting mainly of a violent squall which "picked up" the 
sea, and carried away some of our sails. I did not know 
anything about this until I was suddenly awakened by 
a cold sea coming into my air-port, and almost washing 
me out of my bunk. 

We coaled in Montevideo, replaced the sails that had 
been carried away in the squall, and started south for 
the Strait of Magellan. We were bound for Valparaiso, 
in Chile, to report to Captain Schley, then in command 
of the Baltimore, some of whose sailors had been at- 
tacked by a mob in the streets, and one of whom had been 
killed. 

We anchored off the eastern entrance to the Strait of 
Magellan one evening, preparatory to entering the next 
morning. This was in the early half of December; and 
as December is a summer month in the Southern Hemi- 
sphere, and we were in latitude of 52 S., we had fair day- 
light until almost midnight. 

The next morning we got under way early, and steamed 
among rocks and mountains and glaciers, part of the 
time in snow-storms, part in brilliant sunshine, over 
smooth, deep waters, and through winding channels. 
That night we anchored at Punta Arenas, which the Eng- 
lish call Sandy Point, one name being a translation of 



166 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the other. The next day we steamed through localities 
like those we had steamed through the day before, and just 
as the sun was setting, we pushed out into the immense 
Pacific. Then the bow of the little Yorktown began to 
rise and fall in great sweeps as she met the enormous 
waves which, as every seaman knows, unceasingly roll 
near Oape Pillar. 

We did not have enough coal to take us to Valparaiso 
with much to spare. So, as we did not know what condi- 
tions we should have to meet there, the captain decided 
to stop at the port of Lota and get coal. Lota being at 
the southern extremity of Chile. A day's trip from Lota 
took us to Valparaiso, and in that beautiful bay we 
anchored in the middle of one afternoon just before 
Christmas. Looking around us, we saw a bay approxi- 
mately circular, holding many ships, of which two were 
Chilean battle-ships; and surrounding the bay we saw 
high mountains, some near and some far. To the east- 
ward, at the foot of the mountains, perhaps a mile from 
us, lay the city, looking bright, many-colored, irregular 
and picturesque. 

We anchored near the Baltimore, and that evening 
Commander Evans of the Yorktown dined with Captain 
Schley aboard the Baltimore. Six years and a half later 
both officers took part in the Battle of Santiago. 

Conditions in Valparaiso were exceedingly disturbed, 
a revolution being in progress against President Balm- 
aceda, and the navy taking the part of the revolutionists. 
Feeling against the United States was exceedingly bit- 
ter, due to a number of causes. As usual in such cases, 
the real causes of trouble had occurred several years be- 
fore. It seemed to us that the American minister, Mr. 
Patrick Eagan, had not shown very much foresight be- 
fore the revolution began, and that he had committed the 
United States to an unfortunate policy because of it. 
I think I am right in saying that during my career on 
the active list, it was the opinion of most naval officers 
that our ministers in foreign countries did not serve 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 167 

their Government with as much skill, or show as much 
foresight and understanding about the people of the 
countries to which they were accredited, as did the min- 
isters of the European countries. In fact, the lack of 
skill and knowledge which our ministers and consuls dis- 
played was a source of amazement to most of us until we 
became accustomed to it. 

We had been sent to Valparaiso to take the place of 
the Baltimore, and she left shortly after we arrived. 
Before she left, I went on board and examined my range- 
finder, and asked the officers how it had behaved itself. 
To my delight, I found that it was still in good order, 
that it had been behaving itself commendably, and that 
about two months before on the conclusion of the year's 
test, the board had sent in a favorable report, which had 
been approved by the captain. 

The report was very complete, and described care- 
fully the way in which the instrument was installed, and 
the tests which had been held with it both at sea and in 
port. One paragraph in the report read, 

On January 14th last, the range finder was used at target 
practice off the harbor of Villefranche, France. There was a 
gentle breeze, and the ship was rolling slightly. The range of 
the target varied from 1400 to 850 yards, and the sight bars were 
set for the ranges given. A few ranges were taken by Buckner's 
method from the top, which agreed closely to those given by 
the range finder. The instrument seemed to give correct re- 
sults, as the plotted shots were evenly distributed above and 
below the water-line of the target. Two targets were shot away ; 
and afterwards the planks and barrels floating in the water were 
repeatedly struck by shells from the secondary battery. 

In Captain Schley's endorsement were the following 
sentences : 

From my observations with the instrument on board this vessel, 
I am convinced that it is an indispensable part of the ordnance 
outfit of all our news ships. . . . During the cruise in all target 
practices, this instrument has been found of the greatest value 



168 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

in accurately determining distances. . . . The experience of this 
ship with the instrument shows further that the ships, in con- 
tests of the future, supplied with the Fiske range finder, would 
possess an enormous advantage over those in which the distance 
had to be determined in the old way. 

We remained in Valparaiso till about the first of 
February. The Chileans were so hostile to us that the 
enlisted men were not allowed ashore at all, and the 
officers were allowed ashore only in the afternoon. The 
Chilean naval officers, however, were extremely polite 
to me individually on account of my range-finder, which 
they had heard about, and which they knew was to be 
installed in their new battle-ship Captain Prat, then build- 
ing at La SejTie, in France. In fact, on almost the day 
that we arrived the Chilean naval magazine, called Re- 
vista de Marina, published an illustrated description of 
''El Telemetro Fiske," translated from the Italian. 

The weather was magnficent, day after day of bright 
sunshine and clear, cool, bracing air. Finally, after 
suitable arrangements had been made between the 
American minister and Captain Evans, the asilados who 
had been members of the Balmaceda cabinet, and who 
had been given asylum at the American Legation, were 
brought down from Santiago, the capital, by night, and 
brought in a boat to the Yorktown. The assumption was 
that this was done without the knowledge of the Chilean 
Govermuent. 

A two days' trip took us to Callao, the seaport of 
Peru, about five miles distant from Lima, its capital. On 
the morning of the second day from Valparaiso we found 
ourselves in a dense fog. The asilados had seemed to us 
to be a little suspicious as to the place to which they 
were to be taken, and we could hardly blame them; for 
they were wholly in our power, and they had no real 
knowledge as to our relations with the Chilean Govern- 
ment. In the forenoon of the second day they were 
specially restless ; but finally when the fog lifted a little, 
and the lighthouse of Callao suddenly appeared, they 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 169 

exclaimed, ''El pharo! El pharo!" and danced about 
the deck with joy. 

Callao was not very interesting, but Lima was, at 
least for a while. Although Lima is only twelve de- 
grees south of the equator, and although the interior of 
Peru near by is intensely hot, the climate of this locality 
is, in a sense, delightful. This is because a cold cur- 
rent from the south flows near the coast of Peru on its 
way north, and cools the climate remarkably. I remem- 
ber standing on the deck of the Yorktown one day at noon, 
when the sun was so nearly vertically above me that I 
could not see my shadow on deck; and yet I was very 
comfortable, though I was dressed in blue uniform and 
wore a blue cap. The sun rises at six o'clock every morn- 
ing and sets at six every evening, or within a few min- 
utes either side of six; the wind never blows hard; the 
weather is never hot; the weather is never cold; and it 
almost never rains. If a man is rich, he is apt to own an 
umbrella and a light overcoat, but these are largely for 
display. The absence of rain, however, is compensated 
by a continuous dampness in the air, which in Callao fre- 
quently becomes a fog. The result is that one day in 
Lima is almost exactly like every other day. The sun- 
shine is never bright, but it is seldom hidden altogether ; 
so that a continuous light haze pervades Lima all the 
while in daytime, and gives a soft effect to a landscape, 
which is therefore never brilliant but never gloomy. I 
have been in Lima several times since, and on the way 
there I have always predicted to my companion what 
would be the general appearance of the plaza when we 
reached it, and my predictions have always been veri- 
fied. 

Shortly after joining the wardroom mess, some one, 
by reason of my recent sojourn in France, dubbed me 
Algernon de Montmorenci, a name which soon became 
Algy, and by which I was known in the mess during the 
rest of the cruise. The telescope sight was known as 
''Algy's sight," and it was an object of good-natured 



170 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

and kindly disregard. The subject was rarely mentioned 
except in good-natured bantering; but one day at the 
midday meal an argument arose, which brought out the 
fact that every member of the mess regarded the sight as 
not only unpractical, but incorrect in principle. I was 
not able to make a single man in the mess admit the cor- 
rectness of the theory upon which I had constructed it, 
and I went down to my room with a horrible suspicion 
in my mind, a doubt of my own sanity. I said to my- 
self that, if I had held persistently to a certain theory 
on a demonstrable subject for a year and a half, and that 
theory was wrong, I must be crazy. 

Just then I remembered that there was an officer on 
board the U. S. S. Boston, anchored near us, who had 
had some experience in ordnance, and I determined to go 
at once and call on him, and see if I could not bring him 
to my point of view, resolving that if he declared that 
I was wrong, I would then believe so. This officer "was 
Lieutenant Albert Gleaves, now a vice-admiral. 

So I got a boat and went on board the Boston. I dis- 
covered Gleaves half asleep in his bunk, having had a 
watch the night before. I found him very good natured 
and perfectly willing to talk about the telescope sight, 
though he frankly told me that he thought that I was 
wrong. 

After some discussion and drawing of diagrams, we 
went up to the six-inch gun on the port side of the gun- 
deck aft. Here I labored with Gleaves for a long while 
without success ; but finally he drew back and said almost 
under his breath and very gravely indeed : 

**By God! Jim, I believe you 're right." 

We remained at Callao for about ten days, and then 
started north for San Francisco. Shortly after leaving 
Callao, the ship held her regular target practice. After 
this target practice was over, but before the battery was 
secured, I asked permission of the captain to try the 
telescope sight, knowing that he had orders from the 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 171 

Bureau of Ordnance to try it. The captain seemed con- 
siderably irritated, but lie gave permission saying: 

"All right; but hurry up about it." 

The telescope sight was fitted to a gun in my division, 
but it was not just then in place. So I sent the gunner's 
mate to get it, and in a few minutes I had it secured in 
position. Then the gun captain fired four shots at the 
target. To my horror, they all went about four hundred 
yards short ! I tried to explain to the captain that, since 
they all went to the same spot, the sight must be all right, 
but that I must have failed to get the zero adjustment 
right ; and I pointed out that to get this adjustment right 
was an extremely difficult thing to accomplish at sea, with 
a vessel that rolled as much as the Yorktown. I could 
not make him see the matter as I did, however ; but yield- 
ing somewhat to my insistence, he called out, "Mr. 

X , look through that telescopic sight and tell me 

what you think about it." X went to the telescope 

and had the gun moved about while he looked through 
the telescope. Then he turned to the captain, saluted, 
and said: 

"I think it increases the difficulty of sighting, sir." 

So I went down to my room with a feeling of discour- 
agement so intense that I needed to remind myself con- 
tinually that Folger and Gleaves were on my side. 

This story may seem queer to officers now who are 
familiar with "bore-sighting," but the fact is that all 
the officers of the Yorktown agreed with the captain. 
Shortly afterward, the captain sent in the following re- 
port: 

U. S. S. Yorktown, 3d Rate, 
Navy Yard, Mare Island, March 31, 1892. 
The Honorable Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C. 

Sir: — I have the honor to report, that during the target prac- 
tice, for this quarter, I tested the Fiske telescopic sight under 
the personal supervision of the inventor. 

The sight was fitted to the forward 6-inch B. L. R. and the gun 



172 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

captains, who had been doing excellent shooting, with the ordi- 
nary sights, were required to use it. The shooting immediately 
became so bad that the use of the sight was discontinued, the 
inventor admitting that something was radically wrong with it. 
Afterwards, I required the executive officer to observe the 
target through the Piske sight, when the gun was fired with the 
ordinary sights. He reported that the target was not anywhere 
near the cross wires when the gun was fired; yet the shot was 
an excellent one. He was cut over the eye by the recoil of the 
sight. The shots fired with this sight are marked on the returns. 
In its present shape it is of no value on board ship. 
Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 
RoBLEY D. Evans, 
Commander Commanding. 

On reaching San Francisco Bay, we went directly to 
the navy-yard, which is about forty miles from San 
Francisco. Hardly had we reached the navy-yard when 
we received orders to prepare with all possible despatch 
to go to the Bering Sea. After our long trip from 
New York, we had been looking forward with great pleas- 
ure to reaching the yard; but in one day after arriving 
the conditions at the yard became more uncomfortable 
than at sea. Navy-yard workmen came on board in large 
numbers, and ripped up decks, and drove rivets, and 
hammered oakum into the seams, at a rate which was 
extremely trying to the temper and the ears; and we 
could not get away from the ship on leave, because our 
presence was required on board, to see that the repairs 
were done correctly, each watch officer being responsible 
for a certain part of the ship. 

Finally we got away, and a pleasant, but somewhat 
rough, trip took us to the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, 
at the northwestern corner of the United States. A de- 
lightful and exhilarating passage through those straits, 
between tremendous pine-forests, backed with tremen- 
dous mountains on both sides, took us to Port Townsend, 
in the State of Washington. Here we laid in coal to 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 173 

take us to Unalaska, one of the islands of the Aleutian 
chain, which form the southern boundary of the Bering 
Sea. Port Townsend was one of the too-much-boomed 
Western towns. It had had a brief period of inflated 
prosperity; but now the inhabitants, despite some new 
fine buildings on the streets, were gloomy and discour- 
aged. 

A trip of a few days brought us to Unalaska, which 
presented to our view on the morning of the first of 
May a rough and forbidding picture of low, but rugged, 
mountains, sharp peaks, and a few houses along a sandy 
beach, the whole still covered with the winter's snow. 

"We had been sent to the Bering Sea to take part in a 
concerted effort made by several nations to prevent the 
wholesale destruction of seals. We learned that the 
seals congregated on the ''rookeries" on the Pribyloff 
Islands, in the middle of the Bering Sea, in the summer- 
time ; that they left about the first of October, the females 
going south and the males going to unknown parts ; and 
that about the first of the following May the females re- 
appeared, coming with their young from the South, 
while the males reappeared at the same time, coming from 
no one knew where. 

The Yorktown was the flag-ship of a little fleet, of I 
think, six vessels, of which three were naval vessels and 
three were revenue-cutters. 

During the five months that we were in the Bering Sea 
each vessel spent about half the time in port and half 
the time at sea. Life at sea was not very luxurious, be- 
cause the weather consisted for the most part of gales 
and fogs ; and sometimes a gale and fog co-existed. We 
steamed back and forth across the Bering Sea, but we 
rarely found any sealers, largely because there were very 
few sealers to be found. One day we had a gale that I 
shall always remember from the fact that everybody on 
board was seasick. It was then ten months since we had 
left New York, and we had enough rough weather to 
have become accustomed to it; but there was something 



174 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

so particularly disturbing about this gale that even sail- 
ors who had been going to sea since boyhood, and who 
had never had any other occupation in their lives, were 
seasick. 

We would usually go to sea for a week, and then lie in 
port for a week. The port of Unalaska did not offer any 
bewildering attractions, but we always left it with regret 
and returned to it with pleasure. During a week's trip, 
we watch officers would walk up and down the bridge 
for four hours, and look at as much water as we could 
see through the fog and very frequently the rain. When 
we came off watch, we would sit in the mess-room or lie 
down in our bunks. One afternoon, after I had been ly- 
ing in my bunk, I got up from it about a quarter before 
four to go on watch. I looked across the wardroom, and 
'saw the surgeon, a big man, standing in his room, holding 
on to the right and left sides of his bureau, so as to steady 
himself in the violent rolling of the ship, sobbing audibly, 
with tears running down both cheeks, which he could 
not wipe off, because he was using both his hands to hold 
on to the bureau. Wondering what could have happened 
to him, I went over to his room and sympathetically in- 
quired. The surgeon told me as best he could, his voice 
being choked by sobs and tears, that he was reading Loti's 
"Pecheur d'Islande." 

I can see him now in his little room, with the sunshine 
from the low western sun streaming into the round port- 
hole of his room at intervals as the Yorktown rolled, and 
illuminating a man whose body was in the Bering Sea, 
but whose mind was with a bereaved and desolate girl 
in France. 

One evening, about nine o'clock, while I was officer 
of the deck, and the ship was driving along in a dense 
fog and a howling gale of wind, and rolling violently, I 
was suddenly startled by a prolonged screech from the 
siren. This was the collision signal, which called every- 
body on deck except those stationed to take care of the 
engines and close the water-tight doors below. As a col- 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 175 

lision in those circumstances would have been a disas- 
trous occurrence, officers and men came on deck and went 
to their stations with alacrity. My alarm was only mo- 
mentary, because I realized at once that, if the signal had 
been given because of an impending collision, I would 
have been the one to give it; and I concluded that the 
captain or the executive officer must have had the signal 
given, for some reason, without my knowledge. But it 
struck me as curious that the screeching continued. Soon 
the captain's orderly came running up, and asked me 
what was the matter. I told him to tell the captain that 
I did not know, but that I would find out. It was in- 
tensely dark; but by the light of some lanterns, brought 
into use near the siren, I found that a large block, or 
pulley, had been jerked by the violent rolling of the ship 
off the wire on which it usually hung, and that in falling 
its hook had fallen over the line which ran from the siren 
over to the bridge. 

One day we went to the Pribyloff Islands to see the 
seal rookeries, having on board a Mr. Stanley Brown, who 
had come from Washington to go up to them in the 
YorJctown. If anybody wants to live in the Pribyloff 
Islands, his tastes are different from those of the officers 
of the Yorktoivn. The seal rookeries, however, were in- 
tensely interesting. Lying on our bellies on a cliff, we 
could look along a low, sandy beach for miles, the beach 
extending inward from the seashore a few hundred yards. 
Over this long and narrow stretch were congregated tens 
of thousands of seals. They were divided into families 
evidently, each family having its own yard or space. I 
do not remember any visible divisions in the way of walls 
or ditches that separated one space from another, but 
they were understood, nevertheless. Even the most 
superficial survey showed that; and it also showed fights 
going on from time to time as a male or a female would 
go across a division into another family. It was notice- 
able that there was a good deal of this visiting and con- 
sequent fighting going on; and it was also noticeable 



176 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

that the seals kissed one another. Previous to this, we 
had supposed that human beings were the only animals 
that kissed one another. Another noticeable fact was 
the great difference in size and appearance between the 
males and females. Among most animals, there is a 
strong resemblance between the two sexes; but the male 
seal is not only much larger than the female, but of very 
different shape. 

The port of Unalaska was situated on an island of 
the same name, and the houses of the town were at that 
time located on one street that ran along the beach. The 
front door of the house was at the back; that is, on the 
side opposite from the street. The reason for this was 
that this arrangement gave better protection inside the 
houses from the strong gales that blew from the sea. 
At the time of our visit there were said to be about three 
hundred white people there, Russians, French, English, 
Jews, Germans, and Americans. The seal industry, most 
of which was in charge of the Alaska Fur Trading Com- 
pany, was the reason for the white people being there. 

One evening they gave us a ball in a room that was 
too small for the company collected, and which was 
lighted by oil-lamps. I remember how hot it was and 
how hot it smelt. We all danced, of course, including 
our executive officer. Lieutenant Duncan Kennedy, a 
man about forty-four years old, handsome, and a good 
dancer. He told us the next day at lunch that he had 
received the night before his first intimation that he 
was getting old by a remark from a lady with whom he 
had danced: ''Some of these stout elderly gentlemen 
are very light on their feet." 

On the twenty-second of September, 1892, while near 
Unalaska, the Yorktown held her semiannual target prac- 
tice, six months after the target practice in which my tele- 
scope sight had been tried with such unsatisfactory re- 
sults. After that target practice, and knowing that the 
captain had sent in an unfavorable report, I had written 
an official letter to the chief of Bureau of Ordnance, Com- 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 177 

luander Folger, saying that I was very sure that the bad 
results had beeu entirely due to my putting the instru- 
ment incorrectly in place when in a hurry, and asking an 
allowance of ten more shots and a further trial. I re- 
ceived a favorable reply, and the captain received an 
order to try the sight again. 

So on the afternoon of September 22, 1892, after the 
usual target practice, I obtained permission to fire five 
shots, using the telescope sight. 

It had not been altered in any respect whatever since 
it had been tried in the preceding spring. 

In the forenoon eighteen shots had been fired, using the 
regular open sights then used in all navies, six shots from 
each of the three guns on the starboard side. The results 
obtained were such as were usually obtained in such cir- 
cumstances. We had a method then by which the spot 
where each shot fell could be plotted and recorded, and 
shown afterward on a printed form issued by the Bureau 
of Ordnance. 

My trial was to come after the midday dinner. Of 
course I was intensely excited. No one else was. The 
captain went ashore, and none of the officers came on 
deck to see what would happen. The enlisted men did, 
however, and it seemed to me that they felt sympathetic. 
My first shot seemed to go right through the target, near 
the bottom; my .second to go through it near the top; and 
the third to hit it at the bottom. The fourth shot brought 
the target down in a heap. When this thing happened, 
three spontaneous cheers from the men brought all the 
officers on deck. Then I fired the fifth shot at the wreck. 

When my shots were plotted, it was seen that only one 
shot, and that the last one, was as far away as ten feet 
from the center of the target. My shots, as compared 
with the eighteen shots fired with the open sights, were 
so much better that there was absolutely no way of com- 
paring them, because they were not in the same class. 
As I went down to my room and closed the curtain I re- 
peated to myself what Folger had said to me, ''You have 



178 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

changed naval gunnery from a game of chance into a sci- 
ence"; and / realized that I had made and developed an 
invention the results of which would extend all over the 
world and reach far into the future. 

Surprise has been expressed that the accuracy was so 
great ; but there is no reason whatever why the accuracy 
should not have been so great, and there are two conclu- 
sive reasons why it should have been : 

(1) The telescope sight in the Yorhtown was as accu- 
rate and reliable as any that have been made since. 

(2) I was careful not to fire except when the cross 
wires rested on the center of the target. 

A few days later, moving target practice was held. 
Nine shots were fired using the open sights, and the tenth 
shot was fired using the telescope sight. 

I then made the following report to the Bureau of 
Ordnance : 

U. S. S. Yorktown, 
Unalaska, Alaska, September 29, 1892. 
Commander William M. Folger, U. S. Navy, Chief of Bureau of 
Ordnance. 

Sir : — Referring to the allowance of ten rounds of 6" ammuni- 
tion, kindly made me by the bureau, I beg to state that I have 
been able to fire six of these ; five at stationary practice and one 
at moving practice. The telescope was mounted on the shield, 
and I used electric primers. 

I send herewith diagrams showing the results. 

At the stationary practice, shot No. 22 carried away the target, 
and shot No. 23 was fired at the wreck. 

At the moving practice shot No. 7, fired using the ordinary 
gun sights, carried away the target, and shot No. 10, using the 
telescope sight, was fired at the wreck. As nearly as could be 
determined, this shot would have struck the target, had the target 
been there, on the left side 2i/o feet above the water-line. After 
firing this shot I remarked to the commanding officer that the 
wreck was hard to see, and he discontinued the practice; the 
weather was now becoming bad. 

I found no difficulty in directing the gun on the target, at 
either stationary or moving practice, using the telescope sight. 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 179 

I found that any change in setting, necessitated by a change 
in range, can be more quickly and safely made than with the 
ordinary sights, where a man has to step up to the breech of 
the gun. At the recent practice, a man who had adjusted one 
of the ordinary sights was hurt, because the gun was fired be- 
fore he had gotten clear of the breech. 

I found no inconvenience arising from the proximity of the 
eye to the eye piece of the telescope at the instant of discharge ; 
but as a matter of precaution, I held the eye piece by the thumb 
and forefinger of my left hand, and rested my eye against my 
thumb and forefinger, instead of directly against the eye piece. 
I found no inconvenience in thus holding the telescope. 

Targets are frequently struck, when the ordinary sights are 
used; of course, this kind of shots could not be improved by 
using the telescopic sight or any other kind. It would seem, 
however, that this sight ought to stop wild shooting altogether; 
because the cross wires show the gun captain exactly how the 
gun points, and also magnify by 4 the distance by which the 
gun is off the target at any instant. This sight seems to elim- 
inate those errors of naval gunnery that are due to inaccurate 
sighting; if a man can see through a telescope at all, the con- 
struction of the telescope forces him to look along the axis of 
collimation, even if his eye is not accurately placed. That this 
is not the case with the ordinary sights, where a man must keep 
the puj)il of his eye exactly on the line running between the front 
and rear sights, need not be pointed out. 

Almost as important as the question of accurate sighting is 
the question of rapid and convenient sighting ; and it is apparent 
that, if the field of view of the telescopic sight were small, it 
would be worthless on a moving platform, because it would be 
nearly impossible to keep the target in the field of view, and 
therefore nearly impossible to direct the gun on the target. 

It was found possible, however, by Stackpole, the instrument 
maker, to construct this telescope with a magnification of 4 
(which is enough) and a field of 8 degrees. This takes in 504 
feet at 1200 yards, 840 feet at 2000 yards, 1008 feet at 2400 
yards, etc. It will be seen that this field is ample, being in fact 
considerably larger than the field obtained using the ordinary 
sights, and looking through the ports in the gun shield. To a 
man standing 60 inches behind the rear sight, the total field is 
9y2 degrees horizontally and 3 degrees vertically. On page 8 



180 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

are shown two diagrams, drawn to scale : one diagram shows how 
a ship looks when viewed over the ordinary sight, the other how 
it looks through the telescopic sight. In each case, the ship is 
supposed to be 2000 yards distant, to be 300 feet long and to 
have masts 150 feet high, above the water. 

With the ordinary sights, accurate shooting on the down roll 
is difficult, unless the sea is smooth ; because, owing to the small 
field below the line of sight, the target cannot be seen at all until 
it is almost "on"; and it comes "on" very suddenly. With 
the telescopic sight, the fact that there is a field of 4° below the 
cross wires, as well as above, makes it as easy and accurate to 
fire on the down roll as on the up roll. 

By making one trunnion hollow, and placing a little lamp near 
it, to illuminate the .cross wires, as is done with some surveying 
instruments, a night sight is obtained more simple than those 
now in use. 

Should any accident befall the telescope, the ordinary sights 
can still be used, as at present ; the telescope does not in any way 
interfere with the ordinary sights. 

Very respectfully, 

B. A. FiSKE, 
Lieutenant, U. S. N. 

To this report the following answer was received : 

Bureau of Ordnance, October 19, 1892. 
Lieut. B. A. Fiske, U.S.N., Mare Island Navy Yard, Mare Island, 
Cal. 
Sir: — Your report of the experimental test of the telescopic 
sight has been received, and the results obtained are sufficiently 
promising to justify further trial. 

The Bureau, therefore, requests that you furnish it with a 
description of the sight and its attachments, and of the method 
of using it; also with the information as to through whom two 
sets of these sights may be purchased for trial on some vessel 
at this station. 

Kespectfully, 

Wm. M. Folger, 
Chief of Bureau. 

I answered this letter, giving the information re- 
quested. 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 181 

Up to this time in our navy guns larger than six-pound- 
ers had not been fitted to recoil in the line of fire ; but I 
knew that they would be after a while. So, as soon as I 
had demonstrated the applicability of my invention to 
guns that did not recoil in the line of fire, I set about the 
much easier task of demonstrating its applicability to 
guns that did recoil in the line of fire. 

About the first of November, 1892, the late Rear-Ad- 
miral Frank Wildes, then a commander, took command 
of the Yorktown. After I had explained my scheme to 
him and told him what had been accomplished, he became 
much interested, and gave me permission to shift the 
sight from the six-inch gun to a six-pounder on the port 
side of the quarter-deck. 

No opportunity to try the sight for accuracy presented 
itself; but one afternoon in December, 1892, I fired sev- 
eral shots with my eye at the telescope sight to show that 
there was no danger in so firing, and that the sight itself 
would not be injured. 

Our amusements at Unalaska were of a simple kind, 
and consisted in going ashore when the weather was good 
enough, walking about the place, and playing billiards 
on the single table there, in the little building where were 
the offices of the Alaska Fur Trading Company. One 
afternoon when I was playing billiards with the captain, 
I made the best shot I have ever seen on a billiard-table. 
After hitting the first ball, my ball jumped up on the rail 
of the table, ran along the length of the rail to the other 
end of the table, and then fell off and hit the other ball. 
We did not have much to amuse us in those days, and the 
captain laughed till he was almost sick. 

Our orders were to leave Unalaska on the first of Oc- 
tober, and return to San Francisco. In those days com- 
munication with the outside world lasted from May until 
October, and then ceased until the following May ; and as 
the food supply of Unalaska was very scanty, it was nec- 
essary to lay in certain supplies, for instance of potatoes 
in the summer-time, getting them from the United States. 



182 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The day before we left Unalaska, the collector of the port 
came on board and asked to see the captain. On being 
admitted to the cabin, he asked the captain to please let 
him have some potatoes from the ship for his family dur- 
ing the coming winter, as he had forgotten to get any. . 

We started from Unalaska about six o'clock in the 
morning. As I was to have the forenoon watch from 
half past eight to half past twelve, I was not required to 
be on deck, and I did not turn out until about seven ; but 
before I turned out, I recognized the familiar sound of 
waves falling on the deck overhead, and realized that we 
were outside and in heavy weather. So I put on my rub- 
ber boots, strapped them around my waist, put on my 
oilskin coat and sou'wester, and ascended the ladder to 
the upper deck, to get my regular breakfast of coffee and 
oatmeal. The deck had more water on it than I had ever 
seen before, and I could see the tops of waves over both 
hammock-nettings at the same time. I realized that the 
sea was not only exceedingly rough, but exceedingly ir- 
regular; but I managed to eat a good breakfast never- 
theless. 

After breakfast I had a few minutes to spare before 
half past eight, and I looked forward through the win- 
dow in the messroom-door and saw a very disquieting 
panorama. I could see the captain on the bridge, with 
the executive officer on one side and the officer of the 
deck on the other side, all holding tightly to the rail, water 
more than knee-deep on the deck, and sloshing violently 
from side to side as the ship rolled with a short, jerky 
motion. About two minutes before half past eight I 
started forward, hoping that I should be able to reach 
the bridge. I did so ; and as I staggered up the bridge- 
ladder and got on the bridge, a scene met my eyes that 
at first sight was appalling. The waves, instead of being 
regular, as they usually are at sea, had no regularity 
whatever, but were as irregular as the ebullitions in a pot 
of boiling water. I saw that we were just entering 
Unalga Pass, one of the passages between the Bering Sea 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 183 

and the Pacific Ocean, and that while the wind was going 
out, the tide was coming in. I did not attempt to talk to 
the officer whom I relieved, nor did he to me. He simply 
pointed ahead, and I nodded; but he did not leave the 
bridge until we had passed through the maelstrom, so 
fascinated was he with the scene and the struggles of 
the Yorhtown. It was all over in an hour; that is, the 
roughest of it was. We then emerged into an ordinary 
gale and a snow-storm besides, and we carried the gale 
almost to San Francisco, where we arrived on October 10 
with very little coal in our bunkers. 

From San Francisco we went to the Mare Island Navy- 
Yard to get ready for sea again. We did not know where 
we were going, but we were delighted beyond measure to 
receive orders shortly after our arrival to go to the place 
that we would rather go to than any other place in the 
world, New York. 

I had been in the ship now a few days more than a 
year, and had not been out of it a single night or had 
any real diversion. I had not even had a bath except 
such as I took every morning, when the weather was good 
enough, in a foot-tub; so I got permission to go to San 
Francisco. 

I looked forward with pleasure to twenty-four hours 
away from the ship, away from discipline, and away from 
the uniform. I made up my mind that I would go to 
some kind of show in the afternoon, get a fine dinner at 
the Palace Hotel, and go to the theater in the evening. 
So I secured a room with a big double bed and a private 
bath, and then I set out to walk about the town. The 
first thing I noticed was the sign ''Painless Dentistry." 
As my teeth had not been looked at for more than a year, 
the idea of painless dentistry attracted me, and so I 
went in. 

That painless dentist hammered my teeth and gouged 
my gums and jabbed my nerves with such ferocity and 
strength, and for so many hours, that when I went out, 
I was so weak and nervous that I fell into the first bar- 



184 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

room I saw, and took a drink of whisky. Feeling some- 
what revived, I resumed my walk, and I soon saw the 
sign ''Chiropodist." It was now about five o'clock, and 
as my left big toe had been paining me a little, I went in 
to see the chiropodist. He fussed about my foot a few 
minutes, and then gave a pull with some kind of forceps 
that tore out a piece of my ingrowing toe-nail, and made 
me yell with pain. When he let me go, I had just about 
enough interest in life remaining to enable me to limp 
to the hotel near by. This was my one "day off" in the 
year. 

When our repairs were completed, we joined the 
squadron of Rear- Admiral Gherardi, and we all steamed 
for New York. The squadron was composed of the Bal- 
timore, San Francisco, Charleston, and Yorhtown. We 
had a pleasant trip through the North and South Pacific 
oceans, the Strait of Magellan and the South and North 
Atlantic oceans. 

The Yorktown reached New York in the middle of 
February, 1893. I had been in the ship a little over six- 
teen months, and had been out of it one night. 

I joined my little family, living at the Hotel Beresford, 
New York, and felt that curious, confused feeling that 
one sometimes has when revisiting familiar scenes and 
seeing familiar faces after a long absence among diverse 
scenes, that curious, confused feeling of having been away 
for a long time, and yet of not having been away at all. 

The Yorktown went to the navy-yard in Brooklyn for 
some necessary alterations and repairs preparatory to 
joining the fleet at Hampton Roads and taking part in 
the Columbus Centennial ceremonies. 

I went to Washington several times during the spring 
and summer. Commander Folger had been relieved by 
Captain Sampson as chief of the Bureau of Ordnance; 
but I found that Captain Sampson realized as clearly as 
Folger had done the advisability of taking up the ques- 
tion of fitting our guns with telescope sights. I found, 



CRUISING IN ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC 185 

in fact, that he had put an officer in direct charge of the 
matter. 

In July, 1893, I was ordered to the San Francisco, a 
ship much larger than the Yorktown and considered to 
be the best ship in the navy at that time. I was trans- 
ferred from the Yorktown on the insistent request of 
Captain Sampson, and in order that my range-finder and 
telescope sight and range-indicators already on board 
might get a fair test. My transfer was strongly opposed 
by Commodore Ramsay, chief of the Bureau of Navi- 
gation, who was managing the details of officers accord- 
ing to the so-called ''block system." 

About this time I chanced to see an announcement in 
the New York Herald that the Franklin Institute of the 
State of Pennsylvania had made to me its annual award 
of the Elliott Cresson gold medal for 1893, for my inven- 
tion of the electrical range-finder. The medal arrived 
in due time, and was received by a man who felt very 
proud because of receiving it, and who feels so still. 



s 



CHAPTER XIII 

CRUISING IN THE SAN FBANCISCO . WAE IN BRAZIL 

HORTLY after joining the San Francisco I wrote 
the following letter : 



U. S. S. San Francisco, 
Boston, Mass., July 25, 1893. 
Sir: — I beg to state that I have a telescopic sight fitted to a 
6-pdr. on board this ship, and I would respectfully request that 
a board of officers be ordered to test and report upon it ; and also 
that I be allowed fifty rounds of ammunition for the purpose of 
adjusting and testing it. 

Very respectfully, 

B. A. FiSKE, 
Lieutenant, U.S.N. 
The Honorable Secretary of the Navy. 

Concerning this the Bureau of Ordnance wrote the 
following letter: 

Bureau of Ordnance, July 31, 1893. 
Sir: — 1. The bureau requests that you will appoint a board of 
officers of your flagship to test and report upon the telescopic 
sight fitted to a 6-pdr. on board the San Francisco. Such am- 
munition as may be required can be expended for these tests. 
2. The attention of the board is especially called to the pos- 
sible advantage of the telescope as a night sight. The report 
should contain a description of the telescope and the method of 
using it. 

Respectfully, 

W. T. Sampson, 
Chief of Bureau of Ordnance. 
Commander-in-Chief, North Atlantic Squadron. 

In accordance with this order, a trial was held in 
Gardiner's Bay, Long Island, in August, 1893. The trial 

186 



CRUISING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO 187 

was not altogether successful, because, after a few shots 
had been fired, it was seen that the mounting of the tele- 
scope was too weak to stand the vibration produced by 
the firing. I withdrew the instrument, therefore, until 
such time as I should be able to have a stronger mounting 
made. 

The excellent report of the range-finder by the board 
of officers and the captain in the Baltimore, after a year's 
test in service, induced the Bureau of Ordnance to have 
one installed in the San Francisco, and I found it installed 
there when I reported on board for duty. The bureau 
had also installed a set of my range-indicators for sig- 
naling the ranges from the range-finders to the guns. 
Captain Sampson had been captain of the San Francisco 
before he became chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, and 
was therefore much interested in his old ship. Although 
Captain Sampson was a scientific man, he was a fine sea- 
man besides, and had a very practical turn ; so that I had 
great difficulty in persuading him even to try my range- 
indicator. He wanted me to devise instead a large dial 
that could be installed aloft, and which all the men could 
see from the deck. I was finally able to bring him to my 
point of view by showing that, while his plan might 
work very well in the San Francisco, it would not work at 
all in ships with turrets, and that it was high time that 
we were getting something ready with which to signal 
ranges to the guns in the turrets. My system was 
adapted to doing this because the indicator was only 
about six inches square, and required only two electric 
wires to carry the necessary electric current to it. 

The San Francisco made a short trip to Boston in 
July, took out the naval militia for a week's cruise, and 
then sailed south. She was the flag-ship of the North 
Atlantic Fleet, and Rear-Admiral Benham flew his two- 
starred blue flag at her mainmasthead, but we made the 
trip to the West Indies alone. We used the range-finder 
on all occasions possible for ascertaining the distances 
of points on shore, including the distances of lighthouses 



188 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

at night, and found it of great assistance to the navi- 
gator. 

We expected to make a short cruise in the West Indies, 
and then to go north again ; but we knew that conditions 
were very disturbed in Rio de Janeiro, and thought it 
possible we might be ordered there. 

One afternoon in December, when we were anchored 
at Puerto Cabello, in Venezuela, and while I was officer 
on the deck, a telegram came on board for the captain. 
Immediately after, the captain's bell rang, the captain's 
orderly went in, and then came out, and then went below ; 
and then the executive officer came up and went into the 
cabin. He came out in a minute, shaking his head, and 
said to me, "Make preparations for sea," and went be- 
low. I was confident that this meant Rio, and it did. 

One of the vessels in the harbor was the Nictheroy, 
which had been a merchant ship, but had been recently 
purchased by the Brazilian insurgents, named after a 
town opposite Rio de Janeiro, on the same bay, and fitted 
out with guns and other apparatus as a man-of-war. 
One of my range-finders was installed on board, and one 
forenoon one of the officers of the Nictheroy came on 
board to say he was having trouble adjusting it, and to 
ask me what he should do. He told me that he could get 
one of the two telescopes parallel, but could not get the 
other telescope parallel. Although I realized how diffi- 
cult it was to get the other telescope parallel, I had to tell 
him that it would not be proper for me as an officer of 
the United States Navy to give any assistance to a vessel 
that was equipped to fight against a government with 
which the United States was at peace. The officer left, 
saying some things under his breath. I could not hear 
exactly what they were, but they did not seem to be of a 
complimentary character. 

Our stay in Rio de Janeiro was extremely unpleasant. 
We could not go ashore at all; and as it was summer-time 
in a perfectly land-locked bay, the weather was exces- 
sively hot and enervating. Yellow fever was epidemic, 



CRUISING IN THE ^^A^ FRANCISCO 189 

and we could see little boats with yellow flags hoisted, 
conveying sick or dead persons from one point to an- 
other. The Brazilian war-ships, especially the Aquida- 
han, cruised about the harbor, and every evening about 
five o'clock bombardments of those vessels were started 
by the Brazilian forts on shore. Of these the most active 
seemed to be the fort of Sao Jao. One afternoon we saw 
one of its shells fall on the deck of one of the insurgent 
ships and explode, throwing up dark-red fumes, which 
we interpreted as meaning that the shell was filled with 
cordite. 

We could not tell for a long while which side was going 
to win, but we came gradually to feel that the insurgents 
were not. The Aquidaban, the principal factor on their 
side, looked as if she were in bad condition ; and we finally 
concluded that it was only a matter of time before they 
would have to give up. 

The insurgent ships established a blockade of the port 
by sheer force; but as they were insurgents against a 
government with which our government was at peace, it 
was clear that they had no reason under international 
law to expect that Admiral Benham would allow them to 
exercise their unrighteous blockade against any Ameri- 
can merchant ships which might wish to receive or dis- 
charge cargo in the port. They attempted to enforce it, 
however, and of course Admiral Benham protested. The 
insurgent ships persisted; and they were about to use 
force when Admiral Benham got his squadron under way, 
cleared for action, and sent the Detroit under Commander 
(now Eear-Admiral) W. H. Brownson to give an ulti- 
matum to the Brazilian admiral. The Brazilian saw that 
Admiral Benham was in earnest, and gave up his attempt. 

Of course Admiral Benham reported his action to 
Washington. According to international law, his action 
was correct; but at the same time there was no exact 
precedent, because no case exactly like it had before 
arisen, and Admiral Benham showed great moral courage 
in doing as he did. We heard afterw^ard that President 



190 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Cleveland, on receiving the despatch from Admiral Ben- 
ham, prepared a despatch in answer, disapproving of his 
action, and telling him to rescind it. We heard also that 
this despatch went to the Navy Department to be put in 
the navy code for cabling some time in the evening ; that 
the officer who did that work could not then be found; 
that the sending of the despatch was delayed until the 
following morning; that on the following morning the 
newspapers spoke of Admiral Benham's action in com- 
mendatory terms; and that the President decided then 
not to send the despatch. I do not know absolutely that 
the story is true, but it is generally believed in the navy. 
I have often heard it stated as a fact, and I have never 
heard it denied or spoken of in terms of doubt. 

One evening after dinner I received news of my fa- 
ther's death. It was not unexpected, but I went up on 
deck and sought the company of my range-finder at the 
extreme after end of the ship, and stayed there until mid- 
night, looking out into the darkness and at the dim lights 
of the distant city. I called before my memory all of his 
unselfish life since I had known him, and repeated to my- 
self continually that noble description of a noble life, 
"He went about doing good, he went about doing good." 

Shortly after, a curious motley squadron, headed by 
the Nictheroy, steamed into the harbor and attacked the 
forts. The forts surrendered, and the rebellion ceased. 

Shortly after, to our great joy, we were ordered to 
Bluefields, in Nicaragua. We knew that Bluefields was 
about as uninteresting, hot, and humid a place as one 
could find ; but we also knew that we should be able to get 
ashore sometimes when there, and to see somebody be- 
sides the four hundred men of the San Francisco. 

After we anchored, I was sent ashore to the consul to 
get news, and to otfer him a passage to the ship. Of 
course I went in uniform, and wore a sword. When I 
entered the consul's outer office, I saw him in his inner 
office with a rather pretty, rather young woman. When 



CRUISING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO 191 

I went in, lie introduced me to this lady, whom I will call 
Mrs. Davis. The consul said to me substantially as fol- 
lows: 

''Lieutenant, this lady is the widow of an American 
gentleman who went to Honduras and established a large 
plantation near Cape Gracias a Dios. One night some 
desperadoes attacked the plantation and killed her hus- 
band, cut off his head and threw his body into the river." 

''When did this happen?" I asked. 

"I do not know exactly," answered the consul. 
"When did that happen, Mrs. Davis?" 

"Oh, let me see," said Mrs. Davis, brightly. "Why, 
is n 't that funny ! It happened just a month ago to-day. ' ' 

On August 17 and December 4 we held target practice 
at sea. The practice on December 4 was held under con- 
ditions of more than ordinary difficulty, in that the 
weather was mistj^ and rainy, and the sea was so rough 
that it broke the target away from its moorings. We 
had intended to hold target practice in the regulation 
way, with an anchored target; but I pointed out to the 
captain that here was an opportunity to give my range- 
finder a real test, in circumstances simulating battle. 
The captain agreed, and the result ivas the most realistic 
target practice that had ever been held in the navy up 
to that time. In my opinion the target practice held by 
the San Francisco that day of December 4, 1893, was a 
greater single step forward in naval gunnery than has 
ever been made since. Attention is therefore requested 
to the following report, and to the fact that it was signed 
by Captain J. C. Watson, who had been Farragut's flag- 
lieutenant, and was about the most strictly conscientious 
man I have ever known. 

The report was as follows : 

U. S. Flagship San Francisco, 2d Rate. 
Port au Spain, Trinidad, Dec. 19/93. 
Sir : — 1. I have the honor to transmit herewith a record of cer- 
tain tests with the Fiske Range Finder. 



192 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

2. These tests show that the accuracy of this instrument is 
sufficient to make it very valuable for the purposes of gunnery, 
and for many of the purposes of navigation along a coast; and 
while the range finder is not so accurate as cross-bearings of ob- 
jects whose positions are exactly known, yet, for all cases where 
only one such object can be seen, it is very useful; since occa- 
sions often arise when it becomes extremely desirable to know 
immediately the distance of the shore, or of a landmark, when 
cross-bearings cannot be obtained. 

3. The range finder has been used at target practice at sea 
on the following occasions on board this ship, viz. ; in the fore- 
noon of Aug. 17, 1893, with the secondary battery, at distances 
varying from 1,200 to 1,800 yards; in the afternoon of the same 
day, with the main battery, at distances varying from 1,500 to 
2,100 yards ; in the forenoon of Dec. 4, 1893, with the main bat- 
tery, at distances varying from 2,250 to 3,000 yards ; and in the 
afternoon of the same day, with the secondary battery, at dis- 
tances varying from 1,500 to 2,200 yards. The ship was moving 
in all eases, and there was more swell and more motion than are 
usual at target practice. 

4. On all of these occasions the range finder proved itself of 
great value; in fact, the practice would have been very unsatis- 
factory without it, because the state of the wind and sea and 
the depth of water were such that the target drifted so much, 
that its distance would have been altogether uncertain, had it 
not been for the indications of the range finder. 

5. While my practical experience with the range finder has 
brought me to the conviction that it is an instrument of real 
value to the service, both for gunnery and navigation, I beg to 
state that its usefulness would be much increased if the observ- 
ing stations were placed in more elevated positions. At pres- 
ent they are placed on deck ; and the lines of sight through the 
telescope are frequently obstructed by powder smoke, boats, 
stanchions and gun shields. In my opinion the observing sta- 
tions should be placed well above the deck (in the tops, or on the 
masts or on elevated platforms) so as to be above powder smoke 
and all obstructions. 

Very respectfully, 

J. C. Watson, 
Captain, U. S. Navy, Commanding. 
The Secretary of the Navy. 



CRUISING IN THE ^S'^.V FRANCISCO 193 

A tabulated list of the various trials was inclosed, and 
at the end was a statement, "Average error per thousand 
yards, .55%," about half of one per cent. 

Since the trial of the telescope sight in Gardiner's Bay, 
Long Island, I had no opportunity to have the sight tried 
again; but on May 7 and 8, 1894, the sight was tried by 
a board. {During the nine months that had intervened 
no change whatever had been made in the instrument ex- 
cept that the original worm shaft that moved the tele- 
scope in a vertical plane had been replaced by another 
somewhat thicker.) 

The board made the following report : 

U. S. S. San Francisco, 
Navy Yard, New York, July 9th, 1894. 

Sir: — In obedience to your instructions, we have witnessed 
target practice with the 6-pounder Hotchkiss rapid fire gun of 
the ship, fitted with a telescopic sight by Lieutenant B. A. 
Fiske, U.S.N., and we report as follows : 

The target practice was made on May 7, while at anchor at 
Pearl Cay Lagoon, Coast of Nicaragua, and on May 8, while at 
anchor off Bluefields Bluffs, Coast of Nicaragua. 

On the first day, the firing was done by twelve persons, officers 
and men, four of them familiar with the use of the telescopic 
sight, and all of them trained in pointing and firing with the 
ordinary sight. 

On the second day, the firing was done by eight men, only one 
of whom had ever used the telescopic sight ; and he had fired but 
one shot with it, on the previous day. Two of these men had 
made zeros in the last quarterly target practice, and one of them 
had never had any target practice with any sort of firearm. 

The fall of the shots was observed, recorded and plotted (Form 
A) in the regular manner: and the results of the practice are 
shown in the diagram and data on the two sheets appended and 
marked A and B. 

It seems scarely necessary to discuss the superiority of the 
telescopic sight under conditions which admit of its use ; that is 
when the light is sufficient, and the lenses are free from mois- 
ture, etc. 

It is superior to the ordinary sights just as the telescopic sight 



194 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

of a transit or a theodolite is superior to the alidade or the sight 
vanes. 

The field of view is easily made as large as that for the ordi- 
nary Vl-inch gun sights, with the usual aperture in the shield. 

With the telescopic sight, the target is seen clearly with the 
cross-hairs apparently resting on the target itself; all in focus, 
and with none of the uncertainty arising from more or less coarse- 
ness of sight, and in making alinement of sights, near the eye, 
with a distant object requiring a different focus. 

The operation of pointing the gun (bringing the sight on the 
object) is as easy with the ordinary sight, and it is less fatiguing 
to the eye. In conditions unfavorable to the use of the telescopic 
sight the ordinary sights are still available. 

The mechanical arrangement of the mounting of the telescope 
was unsatisfactory. The shock of discharge deranged the ad- 
justment, and made a new adjustment necessary after each shot. 

Lieutenant Fiske offers a new arrangement now, which, it is 
thought, will avoid the difficulties found with the one used dur- 
ing the target practice. 

The mechanical details of the mount which was used and the 
new one proposed, are shown in the drawing on the sheet ap- 
pended and marked C. 

Respectfully submitted, 
T. C. McLean, Lieut.-Comdr. U.S.N. 
Aaron Ward, Lieutenant, U.S.N. 
F. W. Kellogg, Lieutenant, U.S.N. 

**The mechanical arrangement of the mounting of the 
telescope," mentioned in the third from the last para- 
graph of the report of this board, did not mean the mount- 
ing of the instrument on the shoulder-piece of the gun, 
but the means for elevating and depressing the telescope 
for changes in the range ; that is, the combination of the 
lug under the telescope with the end of the worm shaft 
that carried the range disk, the two being held together 
by a spiral spring. 

Every time the gun was fired, the lug would hammer 
the end of the worm shaft violently and make the shaft 
revolve in its bearings ; so that the range disk had to be 
revolved back every time, and placed at the correct read- 



CRUISING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO 195 

ing. Of course the revolving of the shaft and range disk 
were perfectly apparent, and it took only a second to turn 
them back to the correct range indication. 

The report does not mean that the telescope sight had 
to be re-bore-sighted during the trials. I wish to make 
this point very clear, and to state that neither on board 
the Yorktown nor the San Francisco was the telescope 
sight ever jarred out of adjustment in the sense that it 
had to be re-bore-sighted. I had noticed the defect in the 
original trials on board the YorJctoivn, and in an applica- 
tion for patent, which I had made a year before, on 
May 20, 1893, this arrangement was replaced by a worm 
and worm-wheel. 

One of the drawings of the patent application is shown 
on page 196. Two of the ' ' claims ' ' read as follows : 

"Claim 1. The combination of a gun, a saddle whereon said 
gun slides longitudinally, a support for said saddle constructed 
so as to allow said saddle to be moved in a vertical plane, and a 
telescope or sight-bar supported upon said saddle movable on a 
horizontal transverse axis, and disposed with its longitudinal 
axis in a vertical plane parallel to that including the axis of the 
bore of the gun." 

"5, The combination of a gun, a support therefor and a 
telescope on said support, the said gun and the said telescope 
being movable about their transverse axes, and the said telescope 
being supported on an inclined base : whereby the line of sight to 
a distant object from said telescope is corrected to allow for 
drift of the projectile thrown from said gun, substantially as 
described. ' ' 

This patent is interesting because it describes the fun- 
damental features of all the telescope sights used in all 
the navies today. In fact claim 5 covers army telescope 
sights also. 

Finally, to our intense delight, we were ordered to the 
navy-yard in New York. We arrived there about the 
middle of July for extensive repairs and alterations. 
One of the alterations was putting the forward instru- 
ment of the range-finder on a platform about three feet 



196 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

high, according to the recommendation of the captain. 

During all the trip of the San Francisco since leaving 

New York, about a year before, my range-indicators had 

been tried as well as the range-finder. The year's test 




Telescope Sight. 
U. S. Patent No. 558,058. Dated April 14, 1896. 

being now virtually completed, the captain sent in the 
following report, which included both the range-finder 
and the range-indicators. 

U. S. Flagship San Francisco, 2d Rate, 
Navy Yard, New York, July 19, 1891. 
Sir: — 1. I have the honor to report that the Fiske Range 
Finder and Range Indicators, which were received on board this 
ship Aug. 10, 1893, have, during the intervening year, fulfilled 
satisfactorily the purposes for which they were intended. 

2. In January last, when at Pernambueo, Brazil, I sent to the 
Department a tabulated record of the errors of the Range Finder, 
as determined in the various ports, where the true distances 
could be gotten from the charts. The Average error of all the 
observations was about 6/10 of 1 per cent, per 1000 yards. Since 
that time, I have always made use of the Range Finder at target 
practice, and in going into and out of port and in coasting. 

3. The Range Finder is thoroughly adapted to ship use, as is 
shown by the fact that its whole care and service are in the hands 
of three apprentice boys. These boys keep it in order, and go 
to it, as their station, at general quarters, getting under way and 
anchoring, and whenever the word is passed "Man the Range 
Fmder." 



CRUISING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO 197 

4. The Range Indicators keep in order with almost no care 
whatever. There is a transmitter in the conning tower, one read- 
ing instrument in the starboard gangway, another reading in- 
strument on the poop. The quiet and orderliness of target 
practice would be much increased if two reading instruments 
were added — one for the port gangway and one for the fore- 
Very respectfully, 

J. C. Watson, 
Captain U. S. Navy, Commanding. 

We remained alongside the dock nntil I was detached 
on the first of October, 1894. At the time I left, the work 
on the platform of the range-finder was not quite ready ; 
but I went to the navy-yard two or three times to see that, 
when the forward range-finder instrument was put back 
on the platform, it would be put back correctly, and espe- 
cially that two wires which went from it to the after 
instrument should be put in their correct places. If the 
ends of each wire were put where the ends of the other 
wire ought to be, the instrument would not function. 
Finally, I received word that the instrument was all ready 
for me to inspect, and see if it was all right. This was 
the day before the ship sailed. For some reason which 
I do not remember I did not go, thinking that the people 
who had had charge of the instniment for so long a time 
could not possibly make a mistake in connecting the two 
wires, and I thought that, even if the two wires were 
connected the wrong way, the mistake would be obvious 
the first time the instrument was tried, and that it would 
not take as much as a minute to correct it. 

About a month afterward I received a letter from the 
navigator in Europe, saying that the instrument was be- 
having peculiarly and asking me what was the matter. 
I wrote back immediately that if he would interchange 
the two wires, the instrument would then work correctly. 
About a month later I got an answer from the navigator, 
saying that my letter had arrived too late, and that my 
instrument had already been dismounted and stowed 
in the hold, by order of Admiral Kirkland. 



CHAPTEE XIV 

ELECTRIC TURRET-TURNING MECHANISM, STADIMETER, RANGE- 
INDICATOR, HELM-INDICATOR, ENGINE TELEGRAPH, POSI- 
TION-FINDER^ SOUNDING-MACHINE, TELESCOPE SIGHT, 
AND NAVAL WAR COLLEGE. IMPORTANCE OF FORESIGHT, 
GOOD IDEAS, AND PLANNING IN ADVANCE 

ON" October 1, 1894, I was detached from the San 
Francisco and placed on waiting orders. In a few 
days I went to Washington to have an interview with 
Captain Sampson about my range-finder, telescope sight, 
and range-indicator, which had been tried successfully in 
the San Francisco, and also about some other instruments 
which I had recently invented, which I thought would 
improve the fighting capacity of the navy, and which I 
wanted an opportunity to develop. I saw Captain Samp- 
son, but only long enough to make an appointment for 
three o'clock that afternoon. Shortly afterward I passed 
Commodore Ramsay in a corridor of the department. 
He greeted me courteously, with the very agreeable man- 
ner which he always had; but I was sorry that he saw 
me, because I knew that he disapproved of an officer doing 
things not in accordance with precedent. 

Later in the day an officer came to me and told me 
confidentially that Commodore Ramsay had given orders 
that I should be put on duty immediately — anywhere. 
So I went in to see Captain Sampson before the appointed 
time, and told him of the danger I was in. He leaned 
back in his chair, and gazed at me fixedly for a long while 
from the handsomest eyes I have ever seen. Finally, he 
said, ''Would you like to take up the application of elec- 
tricity to turning turrets?" 

I answered that the idea was not altogether new to me ; 

198 



ELECTRIC TURRET-TURNING MECHANISM 199 

in fact, that I had a patent for doing it, but doubted very 
much whether electricity was as good for that purpose as 
hydraulic power. Sampson said he thought that the sub- 
ject was worth investigating, and that he had already 
had some preliminary trials made on board of an old 
monitor that were very promising. I said that I feared 
that my having a patent of the kind that I did have might 
make it improper for me to take up the work. Sampson 
said he did not care whether I had a patent or not ; all he 
wanted was to find out if electricity would do the work 
better than existing agencies. Our discussion ended in 
my realizing that an opportunity for doing valuable work 
was being presented, and by my saying that I would 
gladly undertake it. I then told Captain Sampson that 
I thought I could do the work better if I lived in New 
York than if I lived in Washington, because it was nearer 
to the centers of electrical activity. Sampson said he 
did not care where I lived ; all he wanted was to get the 
work done in the best way. 

The reason for my giving this conversation at such 
length is to indicate why it was that during all his long 
career Sampson was always able to get the best work 
possible out of everybody under him. He was a man ex- 
ceedingly cold in manner, the reverse of a politician in 
every way, and took little trouble to make himself agree- 
able; but he nevertheless inspired, and always kept, 
the enthusiastic loyalty of every officer under him, so 
perfectly loyal was he himself, so straightforward, and 
so able. 

I went back to New York and got into communication 
with the electrical companies at once. After trying some 
more or less crude apparatus, it finally became apparent 
that the most promising plan was that proposed by the 
General Electric Company at Schenectady. They called 
it the ''Ward-Leonard System," because it was covered 
by the patents of that distinguished electrical engineer. 
It was not practicable, of course, to send a turret up to 
Schenectady, but the electrical engineers there designed 



200 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

a very ingenious and effective plan whereby a man of 
imagination would be able to judge of what the Ward- 
Leonard System could accomplish. Fortunately for me, 
my old friend Dana Greene, who had assisted me in my 
wireless telegraph experiments in the Atlanta, was then 
at Schenectady, in a high position in the company. 

I was engaged at this work for more than two years. 
I lived in New York, and went up to Schenectady fre- 
quently, whenever the company informed me that they 
were ready with the changes in the apparatus which the 
last trial had indicated to me as desirable, and which I 
had asked them to make. As the final step, I myself was 
so fortunate as to be able to devise an improvement 
whereby the system was made directly practicable for the 
work. I patented my invention, and sold it to the com- 
pany for the exact amount that getting the patent cost me. 

Finally, the apparatus was got to working well, and I 
reported the fact to Captain Sampson. I received an 
order from him to meet him at a certain train in New 
York and to go with him to Schenectady. When we ar- 
rived at the works, and the performance of the apparatus 
was shown to him, his habitual and almost frozen reserve 
melted, and a cheerful geniality took its place. I have 
never seen a man more delighted. 

It was natural that he should be delighted, for not 
only had a work in his bureau that had been going on 
for two years been brought to a successful issue ; but it 
had been brought to a successful issue against the pre- 
diction of the two other constructive bureaus of the Navy 
Department, the Bureau of Construction and the Bureau 
of Steam Engineering; and the Navy Department had be- 
come so sure that Sampson had been working on a wrong 
line that it had taken the handling of turrets away from 
the Bureau of Ordnance and given it to the Bureau of 
Construction. 

Shortly after Sampson returned to Washington, I re- 
ceived an order from him stating that two naval con- 
structors had been ordered to go to Schenectady to ex- 



ELECTRIC TURRET-TURNING MECHANISM 201 

amine and report on the electric turning-apparatus, and 
directing me to get into touch with them and inform them 
thoroughly on all matters connected with the Ward- 
Leonard System and its application to turrets, including 
my own contribution. So I went to Schenectady, and 
stayed with these two officers during the two days that 
they were there examining and testing the system. 

In a few days I received a letter from Sampson, dated 
December 21, and inclosing a copy of the report which 
the two constructors had made as a result of their visit. 
The report was dated December 11, 1895. It went into 
the whole subject of turret-turning machinery, and in 
conclusion condemned the use of electricity. The report 
compared the relative values of steam and electricity un- 
der seven heads: reliability, accuracy, simplicity, space, 
weight, cost, and time required to complete the installa- 
tion in the particular case of the U. S. S. Brooklyn, which 
was the next ship to be completed. Sampson directed 
me to give careful consideration to their report and to 
submit my views. 

In reply, I submitted a letter, dated December 24, 1895, 
in which I admitted the superiority of steam in simplicity, 
cheapness, weight, and space, but said, ''If these were 
the principal things required in a war-ship, we should 
now be building sailing ships like the Dale and not ships 
like the Brooklyn"; and that, "from all the standpoints 
of gunnery, the electric system has advantages over the 
steam which cannot be overestimated." 

My letter was thirteen pages long, and was written to 
prove things which everybody now knows. After I had 
finished the letter, however, I realized that, as was usually 
the case in the navy in important matters like this, the 
decision would be made by people who had no knowledge 
of the requirements of war, and that my letter was merely 
a theoretical answer to a theoretical argument. For 
about an hour I went through as profound a period of 
discouragement as I have ever endured, realizing that 
not only would all my work probably be thrown away, but, 



202 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

which was more important, the navy would probably lose 
a valuable appliance of war. 

Suddenly an idea occurred to me, and I wrote at the 
end of the letter : 

I beg to suggest, for the consideration of the Bureau, that, in 
order to arrive at an absolute comparison, in practice, of the 
merits of the two systems, both for the Brooklyn and for the navy 
in the future, it might not be bad to equip two of the Brooklyn's 
turrets, say the forward one and the starboard one, with steam 
machinery, and the port and after one with electric machinery. 
If this were done, the two systems could be tried on board the 
same ship, by the same officers, at the same time, and under 
identical conditions of wind and sea ; so that an absolutely fair, 
conclusive and final test could be made. 

I learned afterward that Captain Sampson was much 
pleased with my letter, and that he then wrote a letter to 
the Navy Department which was virtually a copy of my 
letter. 

Sampson vigorously pushed the acceptance of the elec- 
tric system; but the Bureau of Construction opposed it, 
and was supported by the Bureau of Steam Engineering. 
The man who had to decide was the Secretary of the 
Navy, who knew almost nothing about any phase of the 
subject, and least of all about the most important phase, 
which was the applicability of any kind of system to the 
requirements of naval gunnery in war. Captain Samp- 
son knew a great deal about this, whereas the Bureau of 
Steam Engineering and the Bureau of Construction knew 
almost nothing. The result was that the secretary could 
not come to any decision whatever. Thus this important 
matter was held up because of the lack of any one who 
combined the necessary authority with the necessary 
knowledge! Dana Greene went to Washington and vir- 
tually lived there for months. Finally the secretary de- 
cided to permit the competitive trial, the General Electric 
Company installing the apparatus at its own risk. 

When the four turrets were ready for the competitive 



ELECTRIC TURRET-TURNING MECHANISM 203 

trial, a board of officers was appointed and they conducted 
some very careful trials. The report which they made as 
the result was favorable in the highest degree to the elec- 
tric system. One paragraph read as follows : 

For the purpose of ascertaining the degree of accuracy with 
which each gun could be pointed at any desired object, distant 
objects were selected, upon which the guns were turned. It was 
found that the electric controlled turrets could be turned from 
any point within the limits of train, and brought to rest with 
the object previously selected between the cross hairs of the 
sighting telescope, with great facility; the controller being read- 
ily worked with the operator's eye at the telescope, and the tur- 
ret having a smooth and regular motion. While it was possible 
to arrive at the same result with the steam turned turret, it was 
only done with considerable difficulty; owing to the fact that the 
controlling lever could not be worked with sufficient facility, 
with the eye of the operator at the sighting telescope, and to the 
jerky movement of the turret. 

No triumph could have been more complete. The 
forces of ultra-conservatism were utterly routed, and a 
most important step in the forward progress in the navy 
thereby permitted. The Ward-Leonard System, includ- 
ing the improvement I had made for adapting it to ship 
use, was adopted by the navy, and was one of the impor- 
tant reasons for the improvements in gunnery which aft- 
erward resulted. This system continued to be used until 
it was supplanted by another system, which in turn has 
been supplanted by others, with the progress of the arts ; 
but these systems have all been electric. Possibly I may 
be permitted to feel a little self-satisfaction sometimes 
when I reflect that I was the humble agent, under Captain 
Sampson and against powerful opposition, in bringing 
about this great improvement in the naval gunnery of the 
United States. 

I was on duty in connection with this work from the 
first of October, 1894, till the tenth of December, 1896, 
when I was ordered to the Petrel, fitting out at Mare 
Island, California, for service in Asia. This order to the 



204 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Petrel was given against the protest of Captain Sampson, 
who wished to have me ordered to the Brooklyn, for the 
reasons that the Brooklyn was to have the electric turn- 
ing system, and that several other of my inventions were 
to be installed in her, and he wanted them to be given 
every proper chance of passing the tests successfully. 

Living at the Hotel Beresford, where I lived with my 
family at this time, was a Mr. Henry Morgenthau. Mr. 
Morgenthau made a trip to Europe, with his family, 
and it occupied about a year. Shortly after his return, 
as we were walking down to the elevated station one 
morning, he told me of the pleasant trip they had had, 
and I said: 

"And now I suppose you are going to settle down to 
hard work again." 

**No," he answered, ''I do not believe in hard work; 
I believe in good ideas. One good idea is worth a year of 
hard work." 

This remark of Mr. Morgenthau I have treasured as 
one of the half-dozen remarks worth hearing that I have 
heard in all my life. Mr. Morgenthau, after many years 
of success in financial matters, became our ambassador 
to Turkey. Twenty-three years after our conversation I 
met him at the annual dinner of the Economic Club in 
New York, and reminded him of our conversation. Mr. 
Morgenthau said he did not remember the conversation, 
and did not know that he had ever expressed himself in 
those words. "But," he added, "I have modeled my 
whole life according to that principle." 

The manager of the Western Electric Company's 
branch in New York at this time was Mr. H. B. Thayer, a 
man somewhat younger than I, for whose character and 
ability I had come gradually to have a deep respect. 

One day when I was talking with him, he enunciated a 
principle that I have always remembered, and that has 
guided me ever since. I had said: 

"Mr. Thayer, you 're quite a yomig man, and you 're 
the manager of a great organization in New York, which 



VALUE OF GOOD IDEAS 205 

is getting larger every day, and yet you never seem to 
have anything to do. I have often wondered how you 
manage it." 

Mr. Thayer flushed a little, for he was a modest man, 
and said: 

''Why, Mr. Fiske, I don't have very much to do, really. 
It 's the other men who do the work. ' ' 

"That 's all right, Mr. Thayer," I answered, ''and I 
appreciate your modesty and all that; but would you 
mind telling me how you do it? I 'm talking seriously, 
because this work is like navy work in some ways, and 
I think you could tell me something that could help me 
in my profession." 
Mr. Thayer hesitated for a few minutes, and then said : 
"Well, I '11 tell you. I try to keep away from the de- 
tails of the work and from other men's jobs, and to keep 
my attention on the main points, on my own particular 
job. I have the whole establishment divided into depart- 
ments, and each head of department is expected to run 
his own department himself, and not to come to me unless 
he gets into trouble. I 've tried to arrange everything 
so that the establishment will run itself whether I am 
here or not. Then I am free to do what I think is my 
work, which is to look ahead and see what 's going to 
happen, and prepare to do the proper thing in time. I 
think the worst thing in the world for a man to do is to 
get into a hurry. My observation shows me that if a 
man does a thing in a hurry, the chances are a hundred 
to one that he won't do it well." 

In thinking this over, I compared it with what Captain 
Taylor had said about foresight and what Mr. Morgen- 
thau said about one good idea being better than a year 
of hard work, and I said to myself : 

"Now the first thing to do is to look ahead; the second 
is to try to get good ideas; and the third thing is to ar- 
range your work in such a ivay that when you have to do 
anything, you will not have to do it in a hurry." 

These three remarks have been the ones that seem to 



206 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

me the wisest in point of mere worldly wisdom of any 
that have ever been made to me. But are they any more 
significant than the remark of the half-educated sailor on 
my practice cruise, that it is easy to be a naval officer, 
but hard to be a good one I Obviously, as the old sailor 
said, it is the same in every other vocation : it is easy to 
occupy any position, but hard to do its duties well. Now, 
if there is enough difference between a good naval officer 
and a poor one for a half-educated sailor to see it, how 
great must be the difference between good lawyers and 
poor ones, between good doctors and poor ones, between 
good legislators and poor ones, between good adminis- 
trators and poor ones ! 

How much greater difference, also, there must be be- 
tween good officials and poor ones in the departments of 
the government, in which selection for posts of authority 
and responsibility is less carefully made! In the navy 
no young man can be admitted even to the lowest class at 
the naval academy unless he is of good moral, mental, 
and physical character ; he cannot graduate until after he 
has passed a satisfactory moral, mental, and physical 
examination of great rigidity; and he can not be pro- 
moted to any rank thereafter until he has passed rigid 
moral, mental, and physical examinations. And yet in 
almost every other governmental organization — Con- 
gress, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, the departments, 
and all the state and municipal positions, no examination 
of any kind is held; and the matter of fitness for a posi- 
tion seems to he the last point considered in appointing 
a man to fill it. 

It is abuses of this character that lend color to the 
charge that democracies are inefficient. But abuses of 
this character can exist in autocracies as well, and often 
have. The fault is not with either form of government, 
hut with the politicians or other incompetents who mis- 
direct it. 

About this time Mr. Bryan was making one of his 
''peerless" tours through the country. One night I was 



EFFECT OF ALCOHOL 207 

talking about his tour with Mr. Theodore Weicker, a 
young business man. We were saying how strange it was 
that in a civilized country a man ignorant of the first 
principles of finance, and lacking that kind of ability 
which makes a successful business man or a successful 
professional man, should be able by sheer eloquence to 
obtain leadership in matters requiring for their success- 
ful handling just the kind of knowledge and ability that 
he lacked. Weicker and I agreed entirely, but Weicker 
said there was one thing about Mr. Bryan he admired 
very much, and that was the physical endurance which 
he displayed — an endurance which, Mr. Weicker said, no 
man could possibly have, except a total abstainer from 
alcohol. I was much surprised to hear this from Mr. 
Weicker, because I knew that he was a man of splendid 
intelligence and accurate knowledge, and yet I had al- 
ways supposed that alcohol was good for a man if he did 
not drink too much. After that on every opportunity I 
took careful note of the effect of alcohol, both from my 
own experience and observation, and from reading, 
and it was not long before I came to believe that Weicker 
was right. 

About this time I met occasionally — by chance, it 
seemed to me — the German military attache, a young man 
holding the rank of captain. As he and I were of equal 
rank, I did not think it odd that he invited me to lunch 
one day when he was in New York. But I was a little 
surprised when he led me to Delmonico's instead of to 
one of the cheaper restaurants where I usually took my 
lunch. We had a far more luxurious lunch than I had 
expected, including a quart of Rhine wine, which the cap- 
tain told me was of an old and rare vintage. When he 
came to pay the bill, I saw that it was for more than thir- 
teen dollars. I thought over the incident that afternoon, 
and concluded that the captain must have had some end 
to serve. I concluded also that probably he had suc- 
ceeded, because I remembered that I had talked a good 
deal, and the captain very little. 



208 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

During the time that I was on the duty of adapt- 
ing electricity to turning turrets I was able to construct 
a number of new appliances that I invented. My two 
range-finders in France, after working well for a while, 
had finally gotten out of adjustment, because there was 
no one in charge of them who combined knowledge of the 
instruments with any special interest in them; but in 
some of the other navies they seemed to be working very 
well. The report on my range-indicators in the San 




The Stadimeter. 
U. S. Patent No. 496,075. Dated July 31, 1894. 



^-flisai 



1 



Operating the Stadimeter. 

Francisco had been so good that the Bureau of Ordnance 
adopted them for the new ships. 

One of the first things I took up was the making of a 
stadimeter, a small and simple instrument which I had 
invented in 1890, but had never been able to get made. 
It was designed as an auxiliary to the range-finder, and 
to meet the objection that, even if the range-finder worked 
well in the first part of a battle, it was so vulnerable to 
gun-fire, that it probably would be put out of action soon. 



THE STADIMETER 209 

By the use of the stadimeter, I thought that this diffi- 
culty could be overcome, because the stadimeter was so 
constructed that, when the range-finder took its first read- 
ing of distance, the stadimeter could be set for that dis- 
tance, and the height of the mast of the enemy ship could 
be then read off the stadimeter, using the stadimeter like 
the sextant to bring the reflected image of the top of the 
mast into line with the direct image of the water-line of 
the ship. After that the stadimeter could be set at that 
mast height, and the range read from it by continually 
keeping these two images in line. When I was in Eu- 
rope, and afterward in the Yorktown and San Francisco, 
I could not get the company even to patent it, because they 
conceived the extraordinary notion that it would inter- 
fere with the range-finder. When I got home from the 
San Francisco cruise, however, I finally convinced them 
of their mistake, and got authority to make two. One 
of these was sent to the U. S. S. New York, and the other 
to the U. S. S. Cincinnati. The reports from both ships 
were not only favorable, but enthusiastic. 

The stadimeter was a success from the start, and has 
been ever since. All our vessels now are supplied with 
it, and it can be found in somewhat modified forms in all 
the principal navies. . Not long ago some man asked me 
how much money I had made on the stadimeter. I told 
him that I had never made any money on it, but that I 
had the honor on one occasion of paying out fifty-five 
cents to send a stadimeter by express somewhere. 

During my cruises in the Yorktown and San Francisco 
I had invented a helm-indicator, a steering-telegraph, 
an engine telegraph, and a speed and direction indicator. 

All of these instruments except the last utilized the 
same principle that I had utilized in the range-finder and 
the range-indicator — I mean the principle that, if a cur- 
rent of electricity is sent through an arc of resistance 
wire, which has in circuit with it a volt-meter or galvano- 
meter, the indications of that volt-meter will change in- 
stantaneously with the current which it receives. There- 



210 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

fore if the wires which go to the volt-meter be moved 
along the resistance wire, the volt-meter can be made to 
indicate the positions to which those wires have been 
moved, and it is possible to make apparatus which can in- 
dicate at a distant station any desired signal by simply 
moving a contact along a resistance wire. 

In the helm-indicator the arc of resistance wire was 
placed near the rudder of the ship in such a way that, 
when the rudder moved, it caused a contact to move over 
the arc of the resistance wire, and thereby caused indi- 
cations to appear that showed the positions of the rudder 
on any desired number of volt-meters, these volt-meters 
being incased in heavy iron frames, made strong and 
water-tight. In the steering-telegraph, an officer on the 
bridge or in the conning-tower moved a contact over the 
resistance wire to some such mark as "starboard 10 de- 
grees," and thus caused the order "starboard 10 de- 
grees" to appear instantly on an indicator (volt-meter) 
placed near the steering-engine or at any other desired 
point. 

The engine telegraph was a much more complicated 
apparatus, but based on the same principle. It was beau- 
tifully made by the Western Electric Company, and was 
one of the finest pieces of apparatus that I have ever 
seen. By it an officer or a quartermaster, by manipulat- 
ing two handles, could give orders to both the starboard 
and port engine-rooms as to the speed at which he wished 
each engine to be run, and would get back an indication 
immediately that the order was understood. It was more 
accurate than any engine telegraph ever produced be- 
fore, and more complete than any other produced since. 

The speed-and-direction-indicator consisted of an alter- 
nating volt-meter, in circuit with an alternating current 
dynamo which was turned by each main engine of the 
ship. The faster the engine turned, the greater was the 
deflection of the volt-meter. 

All these instruments were first tried by boards of 
officers, and afterward were given service trials in ships, 



VARIOUS INVENTIONS 211 

lasting usually from six months to a year, before they 
were adopted. In February, 1896, the use of my inven- 
tions, except the telescope sight, was as shown in the 
following table: 

Range-finders. These were installed in the Baltimore, 
San Francisco, New York, Columbia, Minneapolis, Cin- 
cinnati, Maine, Texas, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Ore- 
gon. Five more had been ordered, and were nearly com- 
pleted, but they had not yet been assigned to ships. 

Range-indicators. These had been installed in the 
San Francisco, Cincinnati, Maine, Texas, and Indiana, 
and were about to be installed in the Massachusetts and 
Oregon. 

Stadimeters. These had been issued to the Neiv York, 
Cincinnati, Maine, Texas, Indiana, Raleigh, Montgom- 
ery, Columbia, and Minneapolis. Ten more had been or- 
dered, and they were then completed and about to be 
issued. 

Engine telegraphs. New York, Indiana, and Massa- 
chusetts. 

Helm-indicators. New York, Indiana, and Massachu- 
setts. 

Speed-and-direction-indicator. New York. 

Steering-telegraphs. New York, Indiana, and Massa- 
chusetts. 

Each one of these inventions was an invention radically 
new and not a mere improvement over somebody else's 
invention. As far as I have been able to ascertain, not 
only were they new, but the telegraphs and indicators 
were the first successful endeavors made by anybody to 
overcome the handicaps to interior communication, which 
had been produced by the new and complicated construc- 
tion of steel war-ships; and the range-finder was the 
first successful endeavor to ascertain the distance of 
the enemy with a satisfactory degree of accuracy. A 
partial exception to this statement must be a range-indi- 
cator tried in the British Na\^ shortly before by the old 
** step-by-step method," which was not satisfactory. 



212 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

To these various inventions Mr. Park Benjamin gave 
the happy name "The Nerves of the War-ship," and in a 
brilliant article which appeared in Harper's Monthly in 
March, 1896, he pointed out that they served the same 
purpose in carrying information and orders to the mate- 
rial guns and engines of a ship as do the nerves of the 
human body in carrying information to the brain, and 
orders to the muscles. In the course of the article Mr. 
Benjamin said: 

To assert that we have not made progress in providing nerves 
for our ships commensurate with that achieved in creating brains 
and muscles is, in substance, to say that the inventors of the coun- 
try have not dealt with the problem. The single fact that, of 
the important instruments before detailed, most of them, the 
range-finder, the stadimeter, the range-indicator, the telescopic 
sight, the newest forms of helm and engine controlling telegraphs, 
and the speed-indicator, are the invention of one man, Lieut. 
Fiske, and he an officer in active service in the Navy, — is suf- 
ficient to show how little attention the subject has attracted from 
the fifty thousand ingenious Americans who yearly ask the gov- 
ernment for patents. 

Concerning this article, The Army and Navy Journal 
said: 

The importance of Lieut. Fiske 's electrical inventions is clearly 
indicated by the graphic description given by Mr. Benjamin of 
the conditions under which a modern naval engagement must 
be fought. He shows how nearly such an engagement ap- 
proaches to a free fight or "melee" controlled solely by chance; 
and how as between equally powerful ships, that one may be ex- 
pected to win which is the more skillfully handled during the 
fight. "As between two fleets otherwise equal," says Mr. Benja- 
min, "that fleet will prevail, the ships whereof are by their re- 
spective commanders the more dexterously controlled." To have 
the various mechanical contrivances of the complex mechanism 
of a man-of-war subject to the will of the master, is the first step 
in efficient control. Says Mr. Benjamin, "If between him who 
directs the vessels in combat and the engines, the guns, and the 
helm, efficient instrumentalities strictly analogous to the nerves 



VAKIOUS INVENTIONS 213 

in the body are absent, dexterous working of that mighty fabric 
is impossible, and a paralysis greater or less in degree, must en- 
sue." 

From this time until I left for the Petrel and Asia in 
December these various instruments continued to be sup- 
plied, and for some time thereafter. I was away from 
New York, however, for considerably more than three 
years, and at the other end of the earth. Mr. Oastler, 
who had been my assistant, had taken a position with the 
Western Electric Company in Europe, and the result was 
that there was no person or persons so immediately inter- 
ested as to take that care which is always required in 
order to establish new apparatus in use. As time went 
on, other apparatus were presented to fulfil the same 
purposes, based on what these instruments had accom- 
plished and on the faults which they had developed, and 
brought forward with the intention of improving on 
them. These new instruments had the advantage of the 
propelling power of some person behind them, while my 
instruments had nobody behind them. The result was 
that, as the years went by, my instruments were gradually 
replaced by others. 

Two exceptions to this remark are the stadimeter and 
the telescope sight. Both of these instruments have con- 
tinued in use to the present day. I do not believe that 
there is any gun as large as three inches in caliber on 
board of any ship in the world that does not use my tele- 
scope sight. 

Concerning the telescope sight an official text-book of 
the United States Naval Academy called ''Ordnance and 
Gunnery" said, ''It was the introduction of the telescope 
sight, with its added advantages that has well-nigh caused 
a revolution in naval gunnery. It was an improvement 
so great, that it may well be ranked with the change from 
smooth bore to rifled guns." 

On May 20, 1893, I applied for a patent on a "tele- 
scopic sight," which described and illustrated an appa- 
ratus for use with guns of a kind like the six-pounder 



214 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

on which the telescope sight had been tried in the San 
Francisco, in which the gun recoiled in a sleeve, but the 
sleeve did not recoil; the sleeve being pivoted on the 
trunnions, and the telescope being attached to the sleeve. 
A patent on this was granted on April 14, 1896, and it 
covered virtually all of the methods used since then, in 
adapting telescope sights to ships' guns, more specifically 
than did my previous and broader patents. 

One feature claimed and patented was a way of tilting 
the sight to the left or right in order to correct for the 
"drift" of the projectile. This patented feature has 
been infringed, I believe, by all the guns in the world 
except muskets. I know it was infringed by our own 
army, and I was about to institute proceedings at one 
time ; but just then I was ordered to sea. 

Besides these navy things, I invented a position-finder, 
based on the same principle as the range-finder, but 
adapted to forts, and this was placed into position at 
Fort Hamilton. It was tried in June, 1895, and was per- 
fectly successful. By this time, however, the telephone 
had acquired the confidence of the people to a degree 
which it had never had before, with the result that it was 
found possible with the telephone and a few simple ap- 
pliances to do virtually all that my instrument did. 

Fort Hamilton was a delightful place in those days to 
a man who went there from the hurry and noise of New 
York. There were about seventy-five soldiers in the en- 
tire fort, and somewhat fewer than seventy-five officers. 
I do not remember how many; but they were very nu- 
merous in proportion to the number of enlisted men. 
There was almost nothing of any kind to do, because there 
was nothing to be done. The few old guns that were 
there were useless for any practical purposes, and this 
was so well known that few drills were ever held with 
them. Once a year the annual target practice was held, 
and a target was anchored somewhere out on the Lower 
Bay. Then the old cast-iron guns were slowly loaded 
one by one, and fired one by one, at the target, which was 



POSITION FINDER 215 

not very far away, the gun crew getting behind a safe 
bomb-proof and firing the gun by electricity ; because they 
were afraid it might burst. The lieutenants went on 
duty for twenty-four hours once in nine days. When an 
officer was on duty, he walked about the fort once in a 
while, and went to the morning guard mount. When an 
officer was off duty, he only went to the guard mount. 
The seventy-five enlisted men were mostly old inhabitants 
there, who spent their time as energetically as the officers, 
but hardly more so. One of the officers — I think the 
adjutant — was Lieutenant Harris, who was fifty-five 
years old. Harris was an able, energetic, and intelligent 
man; it seemed a shame that a larger field could not be 
found for his abilities. 

One afternoon I had a curious experience at Fort 
Hamilton that I have never been able to explain to myself. 
On one of the days when my position-finder was being 
tested, I showed my stadimeter to the board, thinking that 
it might be found useful for finding the range, or the 
change of range, of an enemy ship from a fort. Now 
this stadimeter had found its way easily into ship use, 
because the apprentice boys could be easily taught to use 
it. Yet when I showed this instrument to the highly 
trained and scientific officers of the board, some of whom 
were engineers, some of whom were ordnance officers, 
and some of whom were artillery officers, I could not make 
a single one of them understand it. Not only this, but I 
could not explain its practical use in such a way that any 
of those officers could take it into his hands and use it! 

In July, 1896, my wife's father died. An affectionate, 
modest, and able man of the scholarly type, he left behind 
him in the hearts of those who knew him a loving and 
lasting memory. 

In September, 1896, I published in the United States 
Naval Institute an article called ''Electricity in Naval 
Life." It was very long, and went into all the naval 
uses of electricity, past, present, and prospective, and 
attracted considerable attention both in the United States 



216 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

and abroad. The Army and Navy Journal said of it, 
''His article on the subject of electricity as applied to 
naval affairs is the most complete thus far published." 

At this time it was hardly respectable to be an elec- 
trician. Any man who wished to preserve a high stand- 
ing among his acquaintances was apt to speak of electri- 
cal men as being visionary and of electrical apparatus as 
being unreliable. Naval officers assumed a tone some- 
what more advanced than this; a practical naval officer 
of sound judgment would be apt to say something like 
this: "I believe that there is a good deal in electricity, 
and I think that we should give a certain amount of en- 
couragement to electricians, and grant any naval inven- 
tions that are proposed a fair hearing; but at the same 
time we must not forget that it is seamanship and guns 
that should receive the serious attention of the naval 
officer, and not these electrical devices, which, after all, 
are not very important." 

So my article was not received with much approval, 
especially by the elderly officers occupying high positions, 
and more especially by officers like Commodore Ramsay 
and his followers. Paragraphs like the following, which 
is taken from the article, were especially distasteful to 
men of this class : 

Let us hope that we soon shall see a civilized modern ship, in 
which there shall be a fine, large, dj^namo room, like those under 
the great New York hotels, where power will be generated for 
lighting the ship, making the signals, hoisting the ammunition, 
turning the turrets, operating the telephones, hoisting the boats, 
ringing the bells, weighing the anchor, sounding the alarms, run- 
ning the launches, firing the guns, steering the ship, etc. And 
why should we not have a neat electric galley, such as are fre- 
quent in New York, where the meals of all can be prepared in 
cleanliness and quiet, with only a fraction of the fuss and eon- 
fusion now attending the getting of the food and coal, and the 
heating of the water? And why should not both officers and 
men, when they go on night-watch, frequently in the wet and rain, 
be given a light repast, cooked on an electric stove, the size of a 
quart pot? 



HEART ECCENTRICITIES 217 

Of course, all these things have long since been done. 

In October, 1895, 1 was attacked with a very distressing 
intermittency of the heart. Without the slightest appar- 
ent reason the heart would lose a beat, and very fre- 
quently. Having been told so many times by the doctors 
on my examinations for promotion that I had organic 
disease of the heart, this naturally led me to think that 
my last hour as a living human being was approaching. 
Finally I consulted a navy doctor, an elderly man of long 
experience, and he, after examining me several times dur- 
ing a period of two or three months, told me frankly 
that he did not know what was the matter with me, but 
that he thought I might be nervous, in which case I ought 
to consult a nerve specialist. Several years afterward 
this doctor's sister told me that the doctor told her at this 
time I could not live two years. I went to a nerve spe- 
cialist, however. Dr. Graeme Hammond. Hammond gave 
me some quieting medicine, which helped me ; but I think 
that which helped me a great deal more was the psychic 
or mental influence he exercised on me, and his conse- 
quent ability to impress me with the idea that the trouble 
was not organic, but functional. 

The trouble was not entirely overcome, however, for 
my heart would continually lose a beat. I gradually be- 
came accustomed to it in a measure, but of course not 
wholly. When I awoke in the morning my heart would 
begin to behave in the most fantastic and erratic way, 
gradually becoming more regular during the day, but 
not entirely so. One night during the following winter, 
being threatened with a cold, I took ten grains of quinine 
before going to bed. When I awoke the following morn- 
ing I did not seem to have any heart at all, so smooth and 
regular was its beating. In the years that followed, 
whenever my heart got particularly irregular, quinine 
would always steady it materially. During the following 
three years the intermittency was very troublesome at 
times, but along a decreasing scale. During the last 
few years I have been troubled with it very slightly. 



218 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Different doctors have given me different reasons for the 
trouble. My personal belief is that it was, like most 
other troubles, the combined result of many causes, and 
that in this case the principal cause was indigestion. 

During the year 1896 I worked out a plan which I had 
had in my mind for a long time for signaling from ships. 
The principal means of signaling then was with flags, 
which had the drawbacks that their colors could not be 
easily distinguished over long distances, that sometimes 
the flags hung straight up and down, and at other times 
the wind would blow them in such directions that they 
could hardly be seen. After making many trials with 
small shapes of different kinds, painted in different 
colors, I finally concluded that the semaphore, or revolv- 
ing arm, could be seen farther than anything else of the 
same area, and could be made to move more quickly and 
with less power. 

So I devised a system in which there should be on the 
mast four arms, one under the other, about ten feet 
apart ; each arm about six feet long and a foot wide, each 
arm working in pair with another arm, which was at the 
same height, but which moved in a vertical plane at right 
angles to it. The apparatus was just completed in the 
shop when I had to leave to join the Petrel. A few days 
before leaving we set the whole apparatus up in a big 
room at the Western Electrical Company. The appa- 
ratus was electrical, and so constructed that, by touching 
a letter, say ''A," on a keyboard, the two upper arms 
would instantly revolve into the horizontal position: 
whereas by touching another letter, say "Z," all four 
arms would assume a horizontal position. When every- 
thing was ready, and several people had congregated to 
see the result of the experiment, I touched the letter 
"A." To our amazement, the apparatus signaled Z! 

I explained that the workmen had probably got the 
keys on the key-board misplaced, and then I touched the 
letter ''B." To our greater amazement, the apparatus 
again signaled '*Z." I tried all the other letters of the 



ELECTRIC TURRET-TURNING MECHANISM 219 

alphabet, and no matter what letter I touched, the appa- 
ratus .signaled '*Z." As this was almost my last day 
before leaving, this curious performance was discourag- 
ing. It was soon discovered, however, that it was merely 
a matter of a wrong connection of the return wire. The 
error was rectified in a few minutes, and then the appa- 
ratus signaled the various letters touched in the most 
correct and obedient fashion. 

Another invention that I was developing at this time 
was a .sounding-machine. It had occurred to me some 
years before that a mass of a given weight and shape 
must sink in water at an absolutely definite speed, and 
that therefore it was merely necessary to drop a weight 
overboard, start a stop-watch when the weight struck the 
water, and stop the watch when the weight struck the 
bottom, in order to find the depth of the water. In fol- 
lowing out this idea, I thought the attempt could be ac- 
complished in a practical way by having the weight at- 
tached to a wire, like the lead in a Thompson sounding- 
machine, and that the instant the lead struck the bottom 
would be indicated by the sudden slackening of the wire. 
When I was in the Atlanta, and afterward in the York- 
town and San Francisco, I made several crude experi- 
ments along this line which, though they were crude, 
promised excellent results, if properly followed up. 

So, in the early spring of 1896, I got the Western 
Electric Company to make an apparatus embodying this 
idea, and when I went to the war college in Newport dur- 
ing the summer, I made many experiments with it that 
were quite successful. In order that the weight should 
present the same surface to the water, and therefore meet 
the same resistance to sinking in all circumstances, the 
lead was spherical, being a round ball of lead and twenty- 
five pounds in weight. The principal trouble I had was 
the extreme difficulty of getting water deep enough for 
trial, in places where the depth was known with sufficient 
accuracy, largely because of the shallowness of the water 
on our Atlantic coast. 



220 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

"When I received orders to go to the Petrel, the West- 
ern Electric Company built me another machine like the 
one I had already tried, but with certain improvements 
which the experiments indicated. This machine was aft- 
erward installed at the extreme after end of the Petrel. 
As I was to be the navigator, I looked forward to having 
many opportunities for testing it, and of finding it a great 
help practically to me in the discharge of my responsible 
duties in navigating the ship near the rocky coast of 
China. 

During the summer of 1896 I was one of about twenty- 
five officers who formed the annual class at the war col- 
lege in Newport. Captain Harry Taylor, who had been 
my captain in the Saratoga, was the president, and a 
most excellent president. He had that peculiar combi- 
nation of knowledge, foresightedness, and tact which is 
rare, and which is potent when dealing with large ques- 
tions. The war college was then staggering along, sup- 
ported by a few men like Taylor, all inspired by Admiral 
Luce; but it was ridiculed by most officers, and opposed 
by men like Commodore Ramsay. Ramsay was the prin- 
cipal obstacle, not because he represented the thought of 
the Navy, which he did not, but because he had a good 
deal of ability in the line of organization and detail, and 
mainly because he was the chief of the Bureau of Navi- 
gation, and the principal adviser of the secretary in 
strategy. 

Very few of the class took the course seriously; and 
in order to induce officers to go to the college, except 
aginst their will and therefore in a non-receptive mental 
state, Taylor made the courses as easy and pleasant 
as possible. The officers were expected to be at the 
college by nine in the morning and to remain there 
till half past one; that was all. A good library was 
placed at their disposal, and interesting lectures and 
war games were offered for their instruction; but the 
whole endeavor was to convince officers of the useful- 
ness of the college and not to force them to do any- 



NAVAL WAR COLLEGE 221 

thing. To me personally the course in international 
law was the most interesting. I had become inter- 
ested in it at the Naval Academy, where I had stood at 
the head of the class in that study, and I was very glad 
to take it up again. But on taking it up again at the rela- 
tively mature age of forty-two, the flimsy nature of the 
basis on which it rested became apparent. Despite its 
evident value, it was evidently not law at all, or hardly 
even a collection of principles; but rather an aggrega- 
tion of precedents and agreements, which were very con- 
venient as a basis of future agreements and decisions, so 
long as no very great national issue was at stake, but 
which lacked that force to compel obedience, on which all 
law must rest, — if it is to be effective. 

One idea was apparently held by the war college and 
by Captain Taylor, that seemed to me to be incorrect — 
the idea that strategy was independent of mechanism. 
One forenoon there was a discussion held by all the class 
and the staff of the war college, Captain Taylor presid- 
ing, in regard to a certain kind of attack. I was one of 
the junior members of the class, but I remember arguing 
that the decision reached was incorrect then, although 
it might have been correct a few years before, because 
a certain kind of weapon had been developed in the inter- 
vening time. And I also remember Captain Taylor 
pointing out courteously, but forcefully, that my views 
were incorrect, because strategy was not concerned with 
weapons, which changed, but rather with principles, 
which never changed. At that time Captain Taylor was 
doing a splendid work in trying to wean officers from too 
close attention to the materials of warfare, such as guns, 
etc., and to show them that all those material things were 
simply tools which strategists used, just as a workman 
uses a hammer. I felt dimly then that Captain Taylor 
was carrying his idea too far, and I think that I was 
right. In fact, I am sure that army and navy officers 
realize now that, while the principles of strategy do not 
change any more than do the principles of mechanics, yet 



222 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the applications of the principles of both strategy and 
mechanics must change in order to keep pace with the 
new appliances and mechanisms that are born. 

There was a great deal of social life at Jamestown, on 
Narragansett Bay, opposite Newport, that summer. One 
evening quite late I happened to stroll in some dim part 
of one of the piazzas and I heard a woman's voice say: 
''What kind of a man is this Mr. Fiske?" 
'*0h, I think he 's a very nice man in some ways," said 
another voice. ''He 's awfully learned, you know; but 
he 's as slow as a post. ' ' 



CHAPTER XV 

ON THE CHINA STATION 

ONE bright afternoon I took the four o'clock train 
from the Grand Central Station, New York, bound 
for San Francisco, or rather for the Mare-Island Navy- 
Yard and the Petrel, the destination of the Petrel being 
China. My wife and I agreed that she should sublet our 
apartment if she could, and join me in California or 
later in Japan. 

That evening about nine o'clock I noticed that a lady 
and gentleman, sitting in the section opposite mine, had 
a number of small packages, and were somewhat embar- 
rassed by them, when the porter came to make up the 
section. So I said to the man, ''Won't you sit in my sec- 
tion while yours is being made up ? I '11 go to the smok- 
ing-compartment. " Later that evening he thanked me, 
and I said: 

''Oh, I was very glad to help you out a little, I saw 
that you and your wife seemed to be somewhat crowded 
with your baggage. ' ' 

' ' She is n 't my wife, ' ' he answered ; ' ' she 's my sister. ' ' 

I was introduced to her the following morning as 

Mrs. . During the forenoon I found myself talking 

with her at one of the stations in Canada, and she thanked 
me also. I said: 

' ' Oh, I told your brother this morning that I was very 
glad to do you that little service." 

"Why, that isn't my brother," said Mrs. ; "he is 

only a friend." 

The Petrel was put into commission on December 16, 
1896. Our work of getting ready for sea was carried on 
in such a leisurely fashion that we did not leave the 

223 



224 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

navy-yard until the latter part of February, and after 
that we swung around our anchor in San Francisco Bay, 
off the beautiful and picturesque town of Sausalito, till 
the early part of April. We looked forward to three 
years of cruising in China and Japan, just as other ships 
had been doing for many years, and to nothing else. We 
did not know that we were to take a part, and a very 
prominent part, in one of the most decisive battles ever 
fought. In fact, even as late as the latter part of 1897 
there was no clear idea or expectation that the United 
States would ever go to war again. The same feeling 
was over the country as had been over many other coun- 
tries at different stages of their national life — that war 
was *'a relic of barbarism," and a disease for which the 
cure had been found. 

My wife and little daughter joined me at Vallejo, and 
we lived at the same hotel where I had played billiards 
as a midshipman twenty-two years before. Vallejo did 
not look so interesting to me in 1897 as it had in 1875. 
The streets seemed narrower and muddier, and the houses 
dingier. But the same wonderful moonlight appeared 
sometimes, the same magnificent range of mountains 
could be seen, the same invigorating air could be breathed, 
and the same startling sunset colors appeared behind 
Mount Tamalpais, and were reflected in red and gold in 
the waters of the bay. 

Finally the little Petrel stood bravely out of the Golden 
Gate into the waters of the Pacific. A southeast gale was 
blowing, and the water was very rough on the bar. The 
youngest member of the wardroom mess of nine was 
Assistant-Paymaster Seibels (''little Georgie Seibels," 
we called him), who had just entered the navy. For some 
reason he was much afraid of being seasick, and our 
executive officer, Lieutenant Hughes, who was a typical 
sea-dog, would amuse himself sometimes by giving Sei- 
bels a realistic description of its horrors. When the 
Petrel started over the bar, she began such a series of 
athletic performances that Seibels became much con- 



ON THE CHINA STATION 225 

cerned. But Hughes became much concerned also, for 
he was one of those men who never recover wholly from 
sea-sickness. After the performance had been going on 
about an hour, and Hughes's face had acquired a pale 
green-yellow tint, Seibels, smoking a big pipe, came up 
to him. At this time many people were very sick indeed, 
but Seibels was not. He was so concerned, however, 
that he did not notice anything except his own feelings, 
and they did not seem especially distressing. Finally, 
after about an hour of waiting for something to happen, 
and not noticing any signs of it, he went up to Hughes, 
saluted him, and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Hughes, but will 
you please tell me when a man begins to feel sick ? ' ' Poor 
Hughes looked at the ruddy face of Seibels and the big 
pipe, and smelt the nauseating tobacco-smoke. ''Go 
!" he said, and walked unsteadily to his room. 

I had my sounding-machine ready, and we soon began 
to take soundings with it. The quartermaster on the 
poop would pull back the brake with a lever whenever 
I raised my hand. This would permit the drum of the 
machine to revolve, and the wire on which was hung 
the lead to unreel. At the same time it closed an electric 
circuit, and started a specially constructed clock, which 
was graduated not in hours, minutes, and seconds, but in 
fathoms and fractions of a fathom, and which I had in- 
stalled in the pilot-house. When the wire slackened, 
showing that the lead had hit the bottom, the quarter- 
master would let go the lever. This would let a stout 
spring apply the brake to the drum, and at the same time 
open the electric circuit and stop the clock. Then I would 
read the depth on the clock, and the quartermaster would 
reel in the wire again in readiness to take the next sound- 
ing. 

The scheme worked perfectly ; the soundings indicated 
exactly what the chart showed. But suddenly the wire 
broke. This was an unexpected calamity and a great 
one; because I did not have another wire with which to 
replace it. I thought I could get one, however, in Hono- 



226 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

lulu, whither we were bound. When we got there, how- 
ever, I could not find any wire of the proper kind, and I 
could not later in either Japan or China. From an un- 
fortunate combination of circumstances I was not able to 
get the proper kind of wire until late in the year. At 
that time we were in inland waters near Hong-Kong, 
and I could not get any chance to try the machine. Then 
we went to the Battle of Manila, and I had to take the 
machine off the deck and store it below. Later, I was 
transferred to the Monitor Monadnock, and I put the 
sounding-machine at the after end of the quarter-deck. 
Just then the Filipino War broke out. Then I got two 
quartermasters with hand-spikes, and they shoved the 
sounding-machine overboard into the waters of Manila 
Bay. 

This was the end of a machine on which I had worked 
at intervals for twelve years. I have occasionally made 
up my mind at intervals ever since to undertake again 
the work of developing it; but my regular duties and 
other inventions and undertakings have distracted my at- 
tention from it. One cannot develop all the inventions 
which his mind suggests. I wish that some one would 
develoD a soundinar-machine which depends on timing the 
sinking of a weight. 

A pleasant trip, made mostly under sail, took us to 
Honoluhi. My wife and daughter had preceded me, and 
I found them at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. On ap- 
proaching the hotel, I looked with interest at the steps 
whereon I had slept in full-dress uniform twenty-two 
years before. 

On my way to the hotel I passed a lady driving on 
one of the principal streets, whom I recognized as Mrs. 

, who had been in the same car with me on the trip 

from New York to San Francisco. She was very polite 
to my wife and me, and invited us to dinner one evening. 

My wife and daughter preceded me to Yokohama, and 
they came on board in a sampan shortly after we ar- 



ON THE CHINA STATION 227 

rived. They were charmed with Japan, and, as I found 
afterward, with good reason. They were comfortably 
established at the Grand Hotel, and the shops of Yoko- 
hama, the strange costumes, the strange customs, the 
picturesque scenery, which included Fuji-yama at times, 
the jinrikishas, and the cheapness of everything, com- 
bined to make a delightful living place, especially in the 
month of May, which was the month of our arrival. 

During the time of our stay in Yokohama I saw there 
was a great feeling against the Japanese held by the Eng- 
lish. It expressed itself in many ways and on many 
occasions. It was evidenced by very harsh criticisms of 
the actions of the Japanese, even the Japanese of the 
coolie classes, and it was expressed not only in conversa- 
tion, but in the newspapers. One curious phase of this 
was continual ridicule of the Japanese for "throwing 
away" certain moneys which they had received after their 
war with China. The most extreme predictions were 
made as to the ruin which would fall on Japan because 
she did not save her money instead of squandering it on 
the army and navy. The people who made these criti- 
cisms of the Japanese were important business men, and 
it seemed strange even to me that they should be so blind, 
when it was perfectly obvious that the relations between 
Great Britain and Russia were so strained that it was 
to the advantage of the English that Japan should be 
well armed. Only seven years later Japan took Great 
Britain's job of thrashing Russia, and used for that pur- 
pose the shiDS which were purchased with the money 
which these Englishmen had ridiculed Japan for spend- 
ing. 

In the latter part of May the Petrel started on a 
cruise which was to include the Inland Sea of Japan, 
Chemulpo in Korea, Chifu in northern China, Shang- 
hai, Fu-chau, Swatow, and Hong-Kong. 

Our cruise through the Inland Sea was delightful, but 
I shall never forget one foggy night, steaming among 



228 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the rocks thaf guard the approaches to Nagasaki. After 
a few days there we went to Chemulpo, where we arrived 
on June 13, 1897, my forty-third birthday. 

We remained in Chemulpo for three months, a very 
monotonous three months indeed. The climate was mag- 
nificent, but I have always noticed that wherever there 
is a good climate, there is nothing else that is good. 
People seem to prefer bad climates, as is shown by the 
fact that every great city in the world is in a bad climate, 
or at best a climate far from good. The scenery from 
our anchorage included long stretches of clear blue water 
and rugged hills and mountains in all directions. I do 
not think I have seen such clear air anywhere else as in 
Korea. The town itself was of that kind of interesting- 
ness which anything having a distinct and peculiar char- 
acter possesses; but after one day's acquaintance with 
it, interest ceased altogether, so essentially uninteresting 
was it. 

There is a tremendous rise and fall of tide at Chemulpo. 
When the tide was high, it went up to the water-front of 
the city, and the city looked rather picturesque from the 
ship; but when the tide was low, the edge of the water 
was virtually a mile from the city, and immense areas 
of yellow mud were disclosed. When one landed, he 
had to walk up a considerable hill toward the town, along 
a steep road which was always well filled with laborers 
and beggars. I have never seen men carry such tre- 
mendous loads as in Chemulpo. Each laborer had 
strapped on his back a kind of contrivance such as a 
chair would be, if it were strapped on a man's back, 
with the back of the chair and the rear legs in contact 
with his body. The load was placed just where it is in 
a chair. I do not remember now what weights they 
carried, but I think I am correct in saying that an 
American merchant told us at mess one evening that 
a few days before a laborer had carried five hundred 
pounds from the water-front to the town up the hill 
a distance of a quarter of a mile. 



ON THE CHINA STATION 229 

During our three months ' stay at Chemulpo we got into 
the habit of going ashore Saturday afternoon and 
walking about the town. This was our only diversion 
there, for the political conditions were such that trips 
into the interior were not advisable, and swimming was 
too dangerous on account of the swift tidal currents. 

But one afternoon the captain, the paymaster, and I 
proceeded in the captain's gig to a cove about a mile 
away, where the water had very little current. Before 
going, we put on our bathing-trunks under our clothes, 
so that we could disrobe in the gig and jump into the 
water. This part of our program worked very well, 
and we had a delightful swim ; but suddenly a tremendous 
rain-storm came up, without any previous indication 
whatever, and immediately drenched the clothes we had 
left in the boat. The rain was a cold one, brought up 
by a cold wind. Our plight was uncomfortable and 
ridiculous. We stayed in the water, which was warm, 
waiting for the cold wind and rain to pass by. But 
after we had stayed in the water until we were tired, 
and saw that the wind and rain had no intention of 
stopping, we made up our minds to get back to the 
ship as best we could. So we crawled into the gig in 
our bathing-costumes, and the men ''gave way" with a 
will while the captain, navigator, and paymaster crouched 
in the stern of the boat, virtually naked, shivering in the 
cold wind and rain, which continued to pelt us. We got 
alongside of the ship just as the supper-hour was over, 
and all the men were congregated about the deck under 
the awnings. Certainly we created an undignified and 
ludicrous appearance as we came over the side to the 
deck and ran aft. The captain led, weighing about 120 
pounds; the navigator followed, weighing about 130 
pounds; and the paymaster followed, weighing 200 
pounds. A little titter went from the men at first, which 
finally burst into an uncontrollable guffaw. 

One day The Scientific American came on board, con- 
taining an article of great interest to me, which an- 



230 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

nounced the discovery of a simple appliance that made 
possible the attainment of what many people, of whom I 
was one, had been attempting — wireless telegraphy. The 
Scientific American described and illustrated this ap- 
pliance, later called ^'Bramly's Coherer," the resistance 
of which was instantly reduced by being hit by a Hertzian 
wave, but which could be restored at once by a slight tap. 
After reading the description, it occurred to me at once 
that by sending out Hertzian waves of different fre- 
quencies, different apparatus at a distance, having vibra- 
tion periods equal to those of the waves, could be oper- 
ated. It also struck me that, if only two different in- 
struments at a distance were used, it would be easy to 
operate either one at will without interfering with the 
other one. As I was one of the few officers of the navy 
then who believed in the torpedo, I thought I saw a way 
of overcoming the principal difficulty with a torpedo — 
the difficulty of making it go straight in a horizontal 
plane. So I sketched out that afternoon a simple elec- 
trical scheme, which is, I believe, at the bottom of all 
the schemes for using wireless telegraph for directing 
distant objects, that have been proposed and used since 
then. 

I sent this diagram with an appropriate description 
and a letter to Mr. Thayer, manager of the Western 
Electric Company in New York, saying that if the West- 
ern Electric Company would patent this in my name, I 
would assign the patent to the company on any reason- 
able agreement; and adding that, while it was some- 
what ahead of the times, yet, nevertheless, there was 
in it, I thought, the possibility of considerable future 
usefulness. 

About three months later I got an answer from Mr. 
Thayer to the effect that he had submitted my proposi- 
tion to Mr. Barton, the president of the company, and 
that Mr. Barton had replied that, while the Western 
Electric Company was very desirous of advancing the 
applications of science, and especially its applications to 



ON THE CHINA STATION 231 

the navy, yet that this particular proposition of mine 
seemed a little too far beyond practicability to warrant 
spending any money on it. This answer was not unex- 
pected, and I had so much confidence in the judgment of 
Mr. Thayer and Mr. Barton that I gave up my notion. 

In the following June, about a month after the Bat- 
tle of Manila, I got a letter from Mr. Thayer, saying 
that on the second of May he had received a telephone 
message from Mr. Barton, in Chicago, telling him to 
take out the patent for Lieutenant Fiske and to do any- 
thing else that Lieutenant Fiske wanted him to do. So 
I prepared a patent application and other papers, and 
sent them to the United States. When I got back to 
New York in February, 1900, I found that the applica- 
tion had not yet been granted, but that a patent had 
been granted to Nikola Tesla for a virtually identical 
scheme. Correspondence with the Patent Office dis- 
closed the curious fact, which the Patent Office admitted, 
that they had made the mistake of issuing a patent to 
Tesla while another application for the same thing was 
being considered in the office. The Western Electric at- 
torneys finally made an arrangement with the Patent 
Office whereby I was granted a patent that underlay 
Tesla 's, although of a later date. 

My patent was dated October 23, 1900, and expired 
October 23, 1917. During all the seventeen years I never 
saw my way clear to applying it in practice, not because 
I did not see my way to applying it to steering one 
torpedo or vessel, but because I did not see my way clear 
to applying it to steering several simultaneously. Dur- 
ing those seventeen years, I saw scores of notices of 
people inventing the scheme, sometimes in the United 
States and sometimes in Europe ; occasionally I was men- 
tioned as the inventor, but usually somebody else. The 
only man I know of who has really accomplished any- 
thing in this line is John Hays Hammond, Jr. I have 
always given Mr. Hammond a great deal of credit, both in 
private conversation and letters and in print, for the 



232 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

excellent work that he has done, but I do not know of 
Mr. Hammond ever giving me credit for having sug- 
gested the plan originally, or of his disclaiming the 
credit given him for it in many accounts of his achieve- 
ments. 

One morning we were extremely surprised by the ar- 
rival of three German men-of-war. We were not sur- 
prised so much by their arriving as by the fact that 
they arrived so early as to show that they must have 
come up the long and dangerous approach to Chemulpo 
during the night. At this time the German Navy was 
not highly regarded. In fact, it was rarely thought of; 
but this performance startled us into a recognition of 
the fact that the German Navy must be of a high order 
of efficiency, for otherwise this act would not have been 
performed or even attempted. Each of these ships was 
much larger than the Petrel, and yet we had been care- 
ful to come up by daylight and with the greatest circum- 
spection. I noticed also that the German ships had 
on their topmasts a system of signals almost identical 
with the one that I had completed just before I left 
home, and which had been put into the New York, ex- 
cept that it had three pairs of arms instead of four. 

Since that morning in Chemulpo, when those three 
ships met my astonished gaze, I have kept my eye on 
the German Navy. 

During our stay in Chemulpo my wife and little daugh- 
ter had been living in Yokohama, with occasional trips 
to Tokio, Kioto, Nikko, and other charming places. As 
my wife was a pianist and my daughter a violinist, they 
naturally drifted into the musical set, and took part in 
many concerts. On one occasion the little girl played two 
solos in a public hall for a charitable purpose, besides 
playing an obbligato for Mr. Morse, who was then the 
favorite tenor in China and Japan. 

About the first of September they left Yokohama, and 
after a delightful trip through the Inland Sea arrived at 
Chemulpo. I met the steamer with the whaleboat of the 



ON THE CHINA STATION 233 

Petrel, and took them ashore. I steered the whaleboat 
myself on the trip in, and became so much interested 
in conversation with them that I ran the boat aground. 
As I was the navigator of a United States vessel, this 
was almost disgraceful, and I heard good-natured refer- 
ences to it afterwards from time to time from members 
of the wardroom mess. I was able to back the boat off, 
however, and to get my wife and daughter to the Hotel 
Dai Butsu. They stayed there for perhaps a week, and 
my wife has often since declared that the Hotel Dai 
Butsu was the worst hotel in the world. 

At that time the Koreans had the reputation of being 
the most abject cowards living. One night Dr. Brownell, 
Ensign Fermier, and I went to the British consul's resi- 
dence, where there was a small entertainment because 
of the birthday of the queen. While we were walking 
back to the boat we were followed by a crowd of Koreans. 
This became annoying after a while, and Fermier said, 
**I '11 stop this." Then he turned around quickly, 
stretched out both arms, and ran at them shouting some- 
thing emphatic; whereon the whole crowd ran off in all 
directions. Shortly afterward my wife and daughter 
were followed by a crowd of Koreans in Seoul, the capital 
of Korea; but as soon as she turned round and brand- 
ished her parasol at them, they ran away. About that 
time an Englishman went on board a small steamer at 
Seoul in a sampan, or little boat. He paid the boatman 
something, but the boatman protested. The English- 
man went on board, stood on the starboard side of the 
steamer, and listened to the boatman, who held on to the 
side, with his face level with the deck. Standing along- 
side of himself on deck, the Englishman saw a Japanese ; 
and as he could not understand the boatman, he asked the 
Japanese to translate for him. The Japanese said it 
was not necessary, and kicked the boatman in the mouth. 
The boatman made no further protest, and pulled his boat 
ashore. 

I had been having trouble with an ingrowing nail on 



234 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

my left big toe since 1875, when I tried to wear a pair 
of shoes as small as Dorn's. Our surgeon, Dr. Brownell, 
had been casting greedy looks in the direction of my 
toe for a long while; and now, having little else with 
which to amuse himself, he made a determined attack 
on me, to which I finally succumbed. So he took a hypo- 
dermic needle, and injected some cocaine into my toe, 
and then began to cut. I sat propped up in my bunk, 
and watched him cut down through the nail and into the 
toe, and then cut from another place at an angle to the 
first cut, and pull out part of my toe and exactly half 
the nail. I watched him do this as I would watch a 
grocer cut into a piece of cheese, and with just as much 
pain, but no more. When he came to sew it up, though, 
there was considerable pain. The pain passed away 
soon, and left me with an extraordinary desire to write 
a story, the plot of which came to me with the cocaine. 
So I sat up in my little bunk, with a pad of paper and 
a lead-pencil, and by the light that came in through my 
little round port wrote at the top of the page : 

THE EXPLOSION OF MR. JOHN ASHBURTON 

I was sitting one evening in the billiard-room of the Grand 
Hotel watching a game of billiards between Mr. John Ashburton 
and his nephew George. Mr. Ashburton had got the balls to- 
gether in a comer, and was about to make a masse-shot, when he 
suddenly exploded. I saw him tilt forward to the table, and 
then roll off sidewise to the floor. 

I completed the first chapter that afternoon in my 
bunk; and for some time afterward, when we had com- 
pany on board from shore, the mess would get me to read 
the first chapter aloud. The first chapter was not wholly 
devoid of novelty, but I have never been able yet to write 
any succeeding chapters pitched in the same key. Pos- 
sibly the reason is that I have not had any more toe-nails 
cut out. 

We left Chemulpo in the middle of September, and went 
to Chifu, in northern China, my wife and daughter go- 



ON THE CHINA STATION 235 

ing about the same time in a merchant steamer with 
Mrs. Wood, wife of Lieutenant Wood of the Petrel. 
After a stay of about a week in Chifu, the Petrel went 
south to Shanghai, and my wife and daughter went north 
to Tientsin. 

My wife and daughter went from Tientsin to Peking, 
and from Peking to the Great Wall. They traveled in big 
red carts called "Peking-carts," which had no springs. 
As the roads were very rough, the absence of springs 
was deplorable; in fact, the whole journey up to the 
Wall and back to Tientsin was exceedingly uncomfortable 
and exceedingly adventurous. They finally got back 
safe, however, and reached Shanghai while the Petrel 
was still there. 

The Petrel remained in Shanghai until November, and 
then went south. At this time there was a great deal of 
musical activity in Shanghai, and ''Mrs. Fiske and Miss 
Fiske" appeared on most of the programs of the vari- 
ous concerts given. The little girl was declared to be 
a great violinist, and a splendid future was predicted 
for her. 

On the way south the Petrel stopped at Swatow. One 
evening the captain and officers were invited to a din- 
ner given by the "American consul," who was really the 
German consul, but in charge of the American consulate. 
We did not want to go at all, but the captain ordered us 
to go, which is the regular procedure in such circum- 
stances, and so we had to go. The weather was not 
pleasant, and we expected a poor dinner and a stupid 
company. We found about a dozen men and a dozen 
ladies, perfectly dressed, and we were soon ushered into 
a large dining-room, where there was a table covered 
with bright flowers and beautiful china and handsome 
silverware, while the room was lined with Chinese serv- 
ants in costume. We declared to ourselves later that 
this was the most thoroughly delightful and perfect din- 
ner that we had ever attended. Nothing could have been 
more perfect in the matter of appointments, variety, ex- 



236 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

cellence of cooking and attendance, than that dinner. 
Every kind of wine seemed to be at the temperature at 
which it was the most delicious, and there were as many 
waiters as there were seats at table. The waiters, or 
''boys," as they were called, were under the "number 
one boy," or head waiter, a magnificent creature in a 
magnificent dress. 

The next evening we were invited to a men's dinner, 
given by one of the merchants in town at his residence. 
The paymaster and surgeon and I were to leave with 
the captain in the captain's gig at half past six. But 
when our afternoon boat came back from shore to the ship 
at six o'clock, the paymaster was not in it; and as it 
would be a crime for him to be late for the gig at half 
past six, some of us went to his room and got all his 
clothes ready, so that he could get into them quickly 
when he should finally arrive on board. He came along- 
side at exactly twenty minutes after six, standing up in 
his sampan as he neared the ship, in evident realization of 
his tardiness. The Petrel was rolling a good deal, and 
as Seibels tried to get out on the gangway, he missed his 
footing in his excitement, and fell overboard, though still 
holding on to the gangway. The roll back of the Petrel 
brought him above the surface of the water, and then we 
seized him and hustled him below. Then we all un- 
dressed him, rubbed him down with a towel, and dressed 
him ; and so skilfully did we do our work that at exactly 
half past six Mr. Seibels appeared on deck, perfectly 
dressed in his uniform evening costume. 

We had a pleasant dinner, and at its conclusion we 
went to a large room, where there was a piano. After 
we had seated ourselves, the host said, "The next thing 
on the program is a song, sung, unfortunately, by my- 
self." Then he sang a song, and he sang it so badly that 
everybody afterward felt encouraged to sing himself 
when his turn came. So different men sang songs in dif- 
ferent languages, and the evening slipped pleasantly 
away. 



ON THE CHINA STATION 237 

We found Hong-Kong a very beautiful place indeed; 
not the city itself, which is called Victoria, but the bay 
and the islands and the mountains and the general view 
wherever the eye could reach. We spent Christmas 
there, and I remember going with my wife and daughter 
to a splendid service in the cathedral, and seeing on the 
left side of the chancel, in pews reserved for officials, a 
dozen or more British naval officers in uniform. 

While in Hong-Kong two German naval lieutenants 
dined with us in the Petrel. As the executive officer was 
on shore, I sat at the head of the wardroom-table, with 
one of these officers on each side. While they were very 
rude in talking to each other in German, which they knew 
I did not understand, they were, despite that fact, very 
interesting and agreeable, and displayed a knowledge of 
the scientific part of the naval profession which I had 
never seen equaled by any American naval officers in a 
casual conversation on board ship. My judgment in this 
matter may have been somewhat impaired by the fact 
that this knowledge consisted in part of an accurate 
knowledge of my own inventions, and was accompanied 
by an intelligent interest in them. One fact that they 
told me roused me greatly, and that was the fact that 
in the German Navy they tried to utilize every man's 
peculiar gifts. For instance, if a man had an aptitude 
for mechanics or invention, they encouraged him in every 
way to work along the line of his ability, but to devote 
the results of it to naval excellence. Such a man, for 
instance, would always be employed on shore in working 
at his specialty, and when he went to sea, would be sent 
to a ship in which he could carry on his work in some 
degree, and yet keep in touch with the practical work of 
the navy as a whole ; so that he would not stray to paths 
outside of naval work, and his judgment would remain 
good as to the best naval lines along which to prosecute 
his special work. 

This conversation startled me as much as did the 
episode at Chemulpo, when the German squadron came 



238 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

up by night. The former instance had shown practical, 
seamanlike skill ; the incident of this conversation showed 
a foresight on the part of the German Navy Depart- 
ment that I knew to be wholly lacking in our Navy De- 
partment, and suspected to be lacking in the British and 
French Navy Departments. And when, after the Bat- 
tle of Manila, I saw what large numbers of German naval 
officers visited the wrecks of the Spanish ships, and 
noted the length of time they stayed on board, I came 
to the conviction that the German Navy was going to be 
as efficient as the German Army, if it was not already 
so; and that the time was coming, if it had not already 
come, when the German Navy would be the most effi- 
cient navy in the world, even if it were not the largest. 
From Hong-Kong we went to Canton, about seventy 
miles away. More strictly speaking, we went to Shamien, 
a little island separated from Canton by a stream that 
was so narrow at one point that it was crossed by a 
bridge, which was pulled up at night on the island end, 
and let down the following morning. The island was 
extremely small and flat; not very much larger, as I 
recollect it, than an uptown city block in New York. 
Here resided a great many silk merchants and others, 
mostly from Europe, some married and some bachelors. 
Living there must have been very dull most the time, 
but we brought a little variety. Life was pleasant, how- 
ever, even if it was dull, and we had never seen better 
dinner parties anywhere. Being at Canton, the china, 
of course, was perfect, and so was the service, and so 
was the silver, and so were the silks ; and as Hong-Kong 
was a free port, there was no duty on wines, and the 
best wines were to be got at moderate expense. The net 
result of all these conditions, combined with the facts 
that the people had abundance of leisure, and that going 
to dinners and giving dinners was almost the only amuse- 
ment, raised the art of dining and giving dinners to the 
position of a fine art, and made the people of Shamien 
well skilled therein. 



ON THE CHINA STATION 239 

The residents whom we came to know the best were 
Mr. and Mrs. Drew. Mr. Drew was the head of the 
Chinese customs in the south of China, and a Harvard 
graduate. Four years afterward, when we were living 
in New York, my wife saw a telegram from San Francisco 
in the paper, saying that Mrs. Drew had arrived in San 
Francisco, and had given a heartbreaking description 
to the newspaper interviewers of the atrocities com- 
mitted by the Chinese at the time of the Boxer Rebellion. 
A week later we saw a telegram from Boston, saying that 
Mrs. Drew had denied to some interviewers there that 
she had said any such things to newspaper men in San 
Francisco as the papers had described her as saying. A 
few days later my daughter got a letter from Kathleen 
Drew, saying that her mother had had no interview 
whatever with any reporters in San Francisco or Boston 
or any other place, or said anything whatever to any 
newspaper representative anywhere. 

In March, 1898, when war with Spain seemed im- 
minent. The Electrical Engineer, in its issue of March 
10, published an editorial on my lecture before the Elec- 
trical Society in 1890, on "The Civilian Electrician in 
Modern War," and advocated carrying out my recom- 
mendations. This was taken up by other newspapers, 
notably the New York Evening Post, and resulted in en- 
rollment of a volunteer corps of a thousand men under 
Eugene Griffin, vice-president of the General Electric 
Company, an ex-officer of engineers of the army who had 
graduated at the head of his class at West Point. As I 
was at Manila during all of the Spanish War, I do not 
know how much real work this organization did, but I 
do know that the organization was the basis for much of 
the preparatory work of our electricians and engineers in 
the early part of the great world war. 

In the early part of April there was a good deal in 
the Hong-Kong newspapers about a possible war be- 
tween the United States and Spain. None of us believed 
that it really meant war; we could not imagine such a 



240 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

thing as the United States getting actually into war. 
During all the time that we had been in China, Great 
Britain and Russia were supposed to be on the verge of 
war. The British ships dogged the Russian ships wher- 
ever they went, and at one time war seemed so very 
near that I made application to Washington for orders as 
observer on either the British or the Russian side. We 
held about the same idea regarding the United States 
getting into war that a person holds about dying — a 
thing possible only to others. 

On February 15, 1898, the Maine was sunk in Havana 
Harbor, and the probability of war increased, but not 
to the proportions of a certainty in our estimation. 
Then Commodore Dewey came down from the north and 
collected all the squadron in Hong-Kong Bay. His 
ships were the Olympia (flag-ship), the Baltimore, the 
Boston, the Concord, the Raleigh, and the Petrel. Be- 
sides these, the revenue-cutter McCullough joined his 
flag, and he bought the collier Nanshan loaded with coal. 
Finally, on April 26, war was declared just as we were 
finishing painting the ships war color, and the governor 
of Hong-Kong ordered us to leave the harbor, because 
we were then belligerents. 

So Commodore Dewey got the squadron under way, 
and proceeded to Mirs Bay, about ten miles distant. In 
Mirs Bay we were not in British territory, but in Chi- 
nese territory. China did not order us to leave Mirs 
Bay, and she would not have been able to make us leave 
if she had done so. 



CHAPTER XVI 



THE BATTLE OF MANILA 



liote. This chapter and those succeeding that concern the Philippines 
are taken from my book "War Time in Manila," and are printed here with 
the kind permission of its publisher, Mr. Richard G. Badger, of Boston. 

WHEN the American fleet under Commodore 
Dewey left Hong-Kong on April 25, 1898, and 
went to Mirs Bay, we did not even then feel sure that 
there would be war. Many of us thought that war 
would be averted at the last moment, and some made 
bets to that effect. But on the evening of April 25 the 
captains were called on board the flagship by signal, and 
we on board the Petrel felt that when the captain re- 
turned he would bring to us definite news of war or peace. 
We sat on the port side of the quarter-deck and talked 
for the most part on irrelevant matters, though probably 
every one was thinking of the news which would come in 
a very short time. At last we heard the call of the sentry 
and then the plash of oars. The captain came over the 
side with his brisk step, and walked quickly aft on the 
quarter-deck and, seeing us on the port side, thrust out 
his hand, in which was a telegram, and said, ''Gentle- 
men, it is war." 

Next morning we were ready very early to get under 
way, but the steamer with the American consul from 
Manila did not come until the forenoon of the twenty- 
seventh was well advanced, so that it was about midday 
when we moved from Mirs Bay in column, headed to the 
southward and eastward. 

Probably the principal thing remembered about the 
trip to Manila by most of the people in the American 
column is the enormous quantity of woodwork flung over- 
board by the ships. It seemed as if the Baltimore, for 

241 



242 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

instance, never could possibly have held the amount of 
woodwork she threw over, and yet it was a common re- 
mark among officers who went on board the Baltimore 
after the battle that the woodwork was hardly missed, 
except the fore and aft bulkheads in the wardroom. In 
looking back on this little trip, Mdiich occupied about three 
days, I am struck with the fact that everybody seemed 
to take the matter lightly, and, except for an occasional 
remark, the conversation was such as is usual on ship- 
board; and it was not until a sudden screech and boom 
about midnight of the morning of May 1 that we real- 
ized that this was war. 

The afternoon of April 30 was spent in skirting the 
west coast of Luzon Island toward the entrance of Subig 
Bay and in watching for the Spanish vessels. The Bos- 
ton and Concord went ahead of the fleet to the opening 
of Subig Bay, and came out reporting that no Spanish 
ships were there. Before dark the captains were called 
on board the flag-ship for the last consultation. They 
soon returned to their ships, and the fleet, formed in 
column at distance, stood toward the entrance of Manila 
Bay, about sixty miles away. 

As darkness slowly descended, the scene took on a 
character at once soothing and disturbing — soothing, be- 
cause everything was so beautiful and so calm; disturb- 
ing, because of the grim preparations evident. The guns 
were all ready, considerable ammunition was on deck, 
and the men lay or sat or stood by their guns. As few 
lamps as possible were lit, and all lights which would 
shine outward were screened, except one small light over 
the stern of each ship. The night was clear and calm, 
and the hours from eight to twelve rather dragged. 
There was nothing to do, for all preparations had been 
made ; there was nothing to see except the dim outlines 
of a few ships and the vague outline of the coast two or 
three miles distant; and there was nothing to hear ex- 
cept the sound of the engine and the swish of the water 
along the sides. 



THE BATTLE OF MANILA 243 

At half-past eleven, just as the fleet was about to 
head into Manila Bay, the McCulloch (revenue-cutter) 
threw out a flame from her smokestack. Instantly a 
rocket shot into the air from Corregidor Island, showing 
that the flame had been seen and the fleet discovered. We 
realized the fact that this meant a signal to Manila; but 
after a short buzz of conversation all went on as quietly 
and calmly as before. I was standing on the bridge with 
Hughes, the executive officer, and being somewhat tired, I 
yawned. Hughes turned to me and said, "Bradley, that 
is very impolite, and besides it is a very bad sign, be- 
cause yawns in the evening mean tremors in the morn- 
ing. " Scarcely were the words out of his mouth, at 
exactly a quarter past twelve, when there came the 
screech and boom I have spoken of ; and this cleared up 
the situation at once and gave everybody a definite idea 
of where he was and what he was trying to do. Of course 
the ships replied at once, firing into the darkness on the 
starboard side toward the flashes, which kept repeating. 
The Raleigh, under Captain Coghlan, was the first to 
fire; Lieutenant Babin, I think, was the officer of the 
poop division and fired the first gun himself. Captain 
Wildes, who commanded the Boston, steered out of the 
column, right toward the flashes, and opened with all his 
battery, and I shall never forget the appearance of that 
ship as seen from the Petrel. Her form could be only 
dimly outlined, except when momentarily lightened by 
the vicious flashes of her guns, which came in quick suc- 
cession, and one could easily imagine her a war-god 
fighting with thunder and lightning. The attacking guns 
were quickly silenced, and we found afterward that they 
were on the little Island El Fraile, but who the gallant 
Spaniards were who with so little force attacked our fleet 
I for one have never heard. 

At the time of this incident the fleet had just passed 
within the entrance to the bay, and the captain. Com- 
mander E. P. Wood, and I said to each other that the 
comjuodore evidently intended not to get up to the town 



244 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

and the Spanisli fleet until daylight, so as not to risk 
an attack in an unknown harbor from torpedo-boats, 
regular or improvised. The captain then told me to go 
below and get some sleep, as there was no use of both of 
us being on the bridge. He refused to leave the bridge 
himself. 

I left the bridge and walked aft. By this time the 
men had already quieted down again. Some of them 
were standing in groups about the deck, and some were 
lying down, apparently asleep. Lieutenant Plunkett and 
Ensign Fermier were lying down in the rear of their 
divisions, seemingly slumbering peacefully, while Chief- 
Engineer Hall, Lieutenant Hughes, and Paymaster 
Seibels were sleeping on the poop. Everything about 
the deck was quiet and dark except for the faint light 
that came from the stars above and from the engine- 
room below. The guns were all ready, with ammunition 
behind them, and even the breech-blocks of some were 
swung open. Despite these warlike signs, however, the 
night was so beautiful and the stars so bright and the sea 
so calm that the scene was soothing and peaceful, and 
conveyed little idea of what we expected to do in five 
hours. 

I walked down the wardroom-ladder, intending to go 
into the wardroom, but I found the water-tight door was 
closed. This door, of course, was shut, like all the other 
water-tight doors in the ship, as a precaution in case of 
striking a torpedo ; and so I had to go on deck again and 
into the captain's cabin, and down the Jacob 's-ladder, 
which was kept there to be used in cases like this. I 
found the wardroom absolutely dark, and when I reflected 
that the ship might at any moment explode a torpedo, I 
recognized the fact that it might be called uncanny. 
While such reflections were passing through my mind 
I was surprised and gratified by a most reassuring snore, 
long, deep, and regular, coming from one of the rooms. 
I groped my way to the door of this room and listened, 
to identify the snorer. It did not take long for me to 



THE BATTLE OF MANILA 245 

recognize the tone of our medical officer, und T marveled 
at his ability to sleep ho soundly on kucIi an occasion, and 
I envied him. Then 1 felt my way to my own room and 
lay down on my bunk. The deck above my head was 
distant about two feet, and I thought how very flat I 
would be squashed out against that deck if a torpedo ex- 
ploded under the ship. This idea was very vivid at 
first, but I was tired and warm, and the idea became 
gradually less and less vivid, and finally became indis- 
tinct. l>ut T can even now remember that the last thing 
in my mind before I went to sleep was how T would look 
if anybody saw me flattened out against that deck. 

I was aroused from my sleep by a noise at my door 
and a voice saying: 

"The captain wishes to see you on the bridge." 

**What about?" I said sleepily. 

"T don't know," he said, **but it is ten minutes to five, 
and they have begun to shoot at us." 

Then I roused my dormant senses, and realized the 
fact that I was about to go into battle for the first time. 

When r reported to the captain on the bridge, he 
simply smiled and said, "All right." I looked ahead in 
the dim morning light, and saw the Olympia, Baltimore, 
and Raleigh, and ahead of them a great number of masts 
that looked very indistinct. I heard the sound of one or 
two very distant guns ahead and saw their smoke. "The 
Spanish fleet is over there," said the captain, pointing 
over on our starboard side; and there could be discerned 
a few indistinct shapes that looked like ships. All the 
men were congregated about their guns, and the guns 
were loaded. A few were getting some coffee and crack- 
ers at the galley, and the scene about the deck was as quiet 
and peaceful as I had ever seen it. 

I had always thought that the position of the captain 
of a ship in a fight should be where he could see, and I 
had spent a great deal of time in trying to devise a prac- 
tical observing-station. But there was not even a con- 
ning-tower on the Petrel, so, before leaving Hong-Kong, 



246 FEOM. MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

I had asked and received permission from the captain 
to rig up a platform on the foremast, about forty-five 
feet up, where I could sit with my stadimeter, above the 
smoke, and measure the range of the enemy, and also 
inform the captain of whatever important incidents or 
movements my clearer view might enable me to see. I 
had roped this platform round, so that I should not fall 
overboard, and had arranged that the navigator's writer 
Howard should be with me as assistant. I told him the 
day before the battle to take up to the platform two life- 
preservers and a rope strap, the life-preservers to be 
used in case the mast was shot away, and the strap to be 
put under the arms, so that one of us could be lowered, 
if hit. 

Howard and I started up the rigging together, and I 
remember saying to myself as I was going up, ''I wonder 
if I shall come down with the same deliberation." When 
we had seated ourselves on the platform and I had ad- 
justed the stadimeter for use, it was a little early for 
work, and so we occupied ourselves with a look at the 
scene. There was pretty good light now, and we could 
see that the masts ahead were the masts of merchant 
ships ; and behind them we could see the white domes and 
towers and trees of what seemed the most beautiful city 
we had ever seen. A lovely sheet of water, blue and 
tranquil, spread upon all sides ; and behind us rose the 
great Island of Corregidor, and to the northward and 
westward the lofty mountains of Luzon. To the right — 
that is, to the south — the land was lower; and there, 
standing out in clear relief against the bright blue sky, 
were the awe-inspiring forms of the ships of the Spanish 
fleet. 

The Olympia turned to the right and headed toward 
them. The Baltimore followed, and then the Raleigh. I 
picked up the stadimeter, with no very light heart, and 
put it to my eye. Just then a i^hell, coming apparently 
from the direction of the city, struck the water close to 
the Petrel and exploded, throwing up an enormous quan- 



THE BATTLE OF MANILA 247 

tity of water, which drenched us on the platform, forty- 
five feet above. My assistant was a man whom I had 
always remarked for his extraordinary imperturbability, 
and for some days previous to the fight I had caught 
myself wondering whether his imperturbability would 
stand the test of battle ; but I was at once reassured upon 
this point, for as he wiped the salt water from his face 
he said with his customary solemnity, ''That was pretty 
close, sir." 

The Amerian fleet turned down toward the Spanish 
fleet, personally directed by Dewey, and the Olympia 
soon opened with her eight-inch guns. The other ships 
followed as they came in range, and soon an earthquake 
under me showed that the little Petrel was taking her 
turn. 

As is well known, the American fleet paraded back 
and forth before the Spanish fleet, firing as rapidly as 
they could with proper aim. To me, in my elevated 
perch, the whole thing looked like a performance that 
had been very carefully rehearsed. The ships went 
slowly and regularly, seldom or never getting out of 
their relative positions, and ceased firing at intervals 
only when the smoke became too thick. For a long while 
I could not form an opinion as to which way fortune was 
going to decide. I could see that the Spanish ships were 
hit many times, especially the Christina and Castilla; 
but then it seemed to me that our ships were hit many 
times also, and from the way they cut away boats from 
the Raleigh and from other signs, I concluded the Raleigh 
was suffering severely. I could see projectiles falling in 
the water on all sides of all our ships. 

I was directly over one of Plunkett's guns, and saw 
one shot take effect ; and that is the only shot of all those 
I saw that day which I could follow. But I happened to 
see that six-inch shell in the air like a black dot between 
me and the Castilla. Then I saw it strike almost in the 
middle of the target and throw out flame and smoke, and 
I wondered how many men it killed and maimed. About 



248 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the decks of the Petrel things were entirely different 
from what I had expected. I had seen many pictures 
of battles and had expected great excitement. I did not 
see any excitement whatever. The men seemed to me to 
be laboring under an intense strain and to be keyed up 
to the highest pitch, but to be quiet and under complete 
self-control, and to be doing the work of handling the 
guns and ammunition with that mechanical precision 
which is the result we all hope to get from drill. 

The captain stood on the bridge beneath me, and it 
was extraordinary to see this man (he was one of the 
most nervous men I had ever seen) so absolutely com- 
posed and unnervous. He afterward told me that dur- 
ing the entire battle he had not had a single physical sen- 
sation. He was not a strong man physically, and had 
been on deck all night and much of the day before, and yet 
he went through the tremendous strain and excitement 
of the fight without, as he said, knowing that he had any 
sensations or nerves at all. I understood this to mean 
that his mind was so centered on what he had to do that he 
himself was only one of the things he had to manage, 
and that he was no more interested in that thing than in 
the other things. 

Two of the ships in the Spanish column were evidently 
much larger than the others, and I instinctively meas- 
ured the distance from them; and the gunners in the 
ship and the captain seemed naturally to direct the 
fire at them. I could see also that the Spaniards directed 
their firing principally at the Olympia and the Baltimore, 
which were our largest ships, and I felt quite confident, 
after a while, that the Petrel was not given so much at- 
tention as the rest of the ships. Of course I do not know 
whether the commanders-in-chief of the two fleets had 
given orders that this be done, or whether the mere 
prominence of the larger ships attracted the attention 
of the gunners. I became certain, however, in my own 
mind, that in any fleet action the natural impulse of 
everybody will be to fire at the most prominent ships. 



THE BATTLE OF MANILA 249 

I realised that, in most cases, this would not be the best 
distribution of firing, and therefore the natural tendency 
would have to be counteracted by specific orders. 

I think everybody was disappointed at the great num- 
ber of shots lost. Our practice was evidently much bet- 
ter than that of the Spaniards, but it did not seem to me 
that it was at all good. There was no question in my 
mind that the two principal causes were the uncertainty 
about the true range, and the fact that each gun captain 
felt it was incumbent upon him to fire as fast as he could. 

I measured the ranges, or distances, by means of the 
stadimeter, an optical instrument of my invention, first 
setting the instrument at a certain graduation, which 
represented the height which I estimated to be the height 
of the ship we were firing at. The distance which the 
stadimeter then indicated, I shouted to the captain, who 
then ordered the gun-sights to be set at that distance. 
At first our shots fell short. I then set the instrument 
at a graduation representing a greater height of mast, 
which caused the instrument to indicate a greater dis- 
tance, and the shots to go farther. After a few trials 
I found the correct setting for the stadimeter, and after 
that the shots grouped around and on the target in a 
satisfactory way. 

As regards the guns, the captains fired too rapidly, I 
thought. My impression on the day of the battle was 
that the fault of too rapid firing was not to be blamed 
so much upon the gun captains themselves as upon the 
people who surrounded them, principally the division 
officers. I felt sure that a gun captain sometimes 
fired in a spirit of desperation, and just trusting to 
luck, when he could not get his sights properly to bear, 
simply because he felt that the division officer was get- 
ting impatient. 

I looked to see if there were any signs of skulking, but 
I saw absolutely none. On the contrary, it seemed to 
me that people exposed themselves more than was neces- 
sary, and I noticed that when their duties called Hall 



250 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

and Wood on dock, they roniainod there longer than 
seemed to me to be abaohitely required. In fact, I was 
ghul to see that there was a strong desire on the part of 
many who liad stations bek)w to come on deck and get 
the t'eehng of being "in it." Certainly a dozen times I 
saw some of them come rapidly up the ladder to the 
deck, as if they had important business there, and then 
get over somewliere on the side engaged and watch the 
light; and I could not help thinking at the time what a 
pity it would be if one of those men should have some- 
thing shot away when he was simply obeying the im- 
pulses of a self-forgettiTig zeal. 

Almost the first tiling 1 remember after I got on deck 
was Ensign Montgomery, the signal officer, trying to 
read a signal, and then reporting it to the captain. I 
think the signal was "Prepare for action." At this time 
there was a breeze, and the flags blew out fairly well; but 
later on the flags hung up and down like rags; and al- 
though the shl[)s were well closed up, it was impossible 
to read them. The smoke did not prevent the reading of 
the signals except at intervals. I noted this fact care- 
fully. 

After some time — T do not know how long — it became 
evident that the Spanish fleet was suffering very badly, 
especially the two principal ships, and I remember re- 
porting to the captain that one of the ships had not fired 
a shot in fifteen minutes, when that ship then fired a shot 
which came very close to us. I also remember reporting 
to him that the other principal ship was on fire in two 
places. It was not long after this that Commodore 
Dewey withdrew the fleet out into the bay and sent the 
men to breakfast. T l(K)ked at my watch at this time; 
my r(»collection is fliat it said half past seven. It seemed 
to me in a vague way that it was about two o'clock in the 
afternoon, and T said to my assistant, "It is very unfor- 
tunate; I must have forgotten to wind my watch, and 
it has stopped at half ])ast seven." I then looked at it 
again carefully and saw that the watch had not stopped, 



THE BATTLE OF MANILA 251 

and I afterward found that the watch was indicating 
correctly. So, although my attention had been on the 
alert, and time could not be said to have dragged, it 
seemed to me that I had been up there for hours, and 
I went down to the deck with a feeling of weariness and 
relief. The position had been rather trying. There was 
not enough going on in my immediate neighborhood to 
distract my attention from personal danger. I could 
see the smoke of every Spanish shot fired, and I think 
I heard the w^histle of every shell; and I was glad to 
get down on deck, where other people were, and feel 
their comforting companionship. This leads me to re- 
flect that, while history shows that naval fights are not 
so dangerous as army fights, yet a man fighting on board 
a ship is under a greater nervous tension than a man 
fighting on shore. A man fighting on board a ship must 
remain in almost one place and perform his very precise 
duties, such as serving a large gun and sighting it in 
the midst of terrible noises; while a man on shore can 
relieve his nervous tension by moving about, running or 
walking, and frequently firing his musket, and his nerves 
are not shaken by the concussion of such tremendous guns 
as are on board ship. 

The first thing to do after getting out into the bay 
was to count the ammunition left. As I remember it, we 
had expended about one third of our entire supply. 
After this I went into the wardroom, where the mess were 
gathered over a very satisfactory meal of sandwiches, 
coffee, and beer. Some one said, "Sit down, Bradley," 
to which I replied that I would as soon as I washed my 
hands. With that one of them caught hold of me and 
said: ''No, you won't wash your hands; no one is al- 
lowed to wash his hands. We don't go into battle every 
day, and we are not going to wipe off any of the smoke 
and dirt." 

After coming down from aloft my attention had been 
engaged in the counting of the ammunition, and yet I had 
a question on my tongue continually, which I felt loath 



252 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

to ask; it was how many in our ship had been killed. 
My astonishment was great when I heard that no one 
had been killed, and no one had been wounded. To this 
I answered that the Petrel's small size must have saved 
her, because I knew the Raleigh must have suffered 
severely. Then some one said that ''there had not been 
a man killed in the whole fleet, and comparatively few 
had been wounded." It was a long time before I could 
adjust my mind to believing this, for although I could 
see from aloft that the American fleet had got the better 
of the fight so far, yet I had seen so much havoc wrought 
on the Spanish ships, and so many of their projectiles fall 
near us, that I could not believe for a long while that 
there could be so few casualties in our ships. 

Expecting that we would be very busily engaged later 
on in the day, I lay down on my bunk to rest and try 
to get a little sleep ; but I had not been long there when 
I heard sounds of terrific explosions in the distances, 
and the voices of men on deck calling, ' ' They are blowing 
up their ships." 

The captains of our ships had been summoned on 
board the flag-ship by signal, and some time, I think, 
about eleven o'clock they returned to their ships. Our 
captain brought back with him Captain Wildes of the 
Boston, for the Boston had no boats left that she could 
use. Our captain told us that we were to start in at 
once, the Baltimore leading, to engage the shore batter- 
ies around Sangley Point as well as the Spanish ships; 
and that, as soon as it could be done, the Petrel would 
be sent in close to do whatever was necessary. To most 
of us it seemed that our interesting time was coming; 
that is, the time after we should go into the arsenal, which 
our light draft of water permitted us alone to do. None 
of our ships had as yet been struck by a torpedo, but 
the water near the arsenal was only from two to four 
fathoms deep, and we reasoned that this was exactly the 
place w^here the Spaniards would plant torpedoes. Now, 
torpedoes we considered the greatest danger. 



THE BATTLE OF MANILA 253 

In obedience to signal, the Baltimore at once got un- 
der way and steamed rapidly in toward Sangley Point, 
She seemed to be going at full speed, and as soon as 
the guns of her batteries could be used she began to fire. 
Her appearance as seen from my perch aloft was dra- 
matic and picturesque in the extreme. With her great 
size and rapid speed, she seemed literally rushing on the 
foe, and when she began to strike out with those long 
guns, I got a realizing sense of force in motion that I had 
never had before. The beach seemed to be torn up with 
the impact of her shells, and the air there to be filled with 
clouds of sand and the smoke and the flames of burning 
powder. The batteries could not stand this very long, 
and soon gave up the fight. 

Our role of the interested spectator was soon ended 
by the expected signal to go in after the Baltimore. We 
engaged first a vessel which afterward proved to be the 
Don Juan cVUlloa, and we fired on her for a long time 
without seeming to do much damage or eliciting any 
reply. We afterward found that the ship had been 
abandoned, and that, while our projectiles had pierced 
her many times, they had not really inflicted on her any 
great injury. One shell, however, went over to the ar- 
senal, and went through the commandant's house — as we 
heard afterward — and passed through the dining-room, 
where a number of people were together. The result was 
the immediate hauling down of the Spanish flag and the 
hoisting of the white flag. As soon as this was known 
aboard the flag-ship, she hoisted the signal long expected 
by us, "Petrel pass inside." This signal was shortly fol- 
lowed by another to us to burn the Spanish ships. 

During the time of the withdrawal of the American 
fleet the Spaniards had run their ships as close in as the 
depth of water permitted and abandoned them. We 
supposed, of course, that they had laid trains to their 
magazines, so that the task of burning them would be by 
no means a safe one. The captain at once told the execu- 
tive officer, Hughes, to go and burn them, and called for 



254 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

volunteers. The call for volunteers was immediately 
answered by a chorus of voices, the first voice being that 
of a seaman named Sprong, who called out instantly, 
''Here 's one." 

The Petrel had anchored near the long stone bastion 
of the arsenal, but from that position we could not see 
the Spanish ships that Hughes went in to burn. The 
consequence was that soon after he started off he was 
lost to sight behind the bastion. I immediately went to 
the pilot-house to consult the chart and see if it was not 
possible to go in still farther, to a place where we could 
get a good view of the arsenal and the party of Hughes. 
I soon saw that it was possible, and went out on the 
bridge to tell the captain so ; but before I could suggest 
the matter, he said: 

"Don't you think we can get in closer?" I replied: 

"I know we can, sir, because I have just looked it 
up." 

So we picked up the anchor, and steamed to the south- 
ward, to a position where our keel just cleared the bot- 
tom. 

We saw a lot of good-looking tugs and launches, and 
what seemed to be several thousand soldiers and sailors 
in the arsenal grounds. The captain said he thought 
that he ought to get as many of those tugs and launches 
as he could, as they might be very useful. I replied that 
it would be very easy to get them. He then called for 
volunteers, which were very quickly got, and in a few 
minutes I shoved off and went alongside of the arsenal 
dock with half a dozen men. I never had at any time 
during either the Spanish or the Filipino War the slight- 
est trouble with the men in pushing them ahead, but al- 
ways trouble in holding them back. On this occasion as 
I went alongside of the dock I had to reiterate my order 
to remain in the boat and not load their muskets. 

I got up on the stone dock and looked about me. I 
had scarcely done so when I saw advancing toward me a 
large number of Spanish officers, I should say from 



THE BATTLE OP MANILA 255 

recollection at least twenty-five. Behind them, farther 
up the dock, was what looked to me like a small army of 
soldiers drawn up in regular formation under arms, and 
a crowd of some hundred sailors, who did not seem to be 
in any formation whatever, but walking about as they 
pleased, though armed. I advanced toward the officers, 
and they advanced toward me, and we exchanged most 
punctilious salutes. We tried to talk in English and 
Spanish, but they could not talk English well enough, and 
I could not talk Spanish well enough ; but I managed to 
get along fairly well with one of the officers in French. 

The Spanish officers seemed to be somewhat excited, 
and they asked me questions that I could not at first un- 
derstand; but finally I found out that there were two 
principal questions: one was whether the firing from 
the American ships would begin again, and the other 
question was whether they would be permitted to go 
back on board their ships, which they had abandoned in 
such haste that they had left behind them their pocket 
money, the pictures of their families, and all their clothes. 
In reply to their first question, I told them that the 
Americans had recognized their white flag, and that 
they would not fire again at the arsenal, but would re- 
spect their white flag so long as they, the Spaniards, re- 
spected it. This statement seemed to gratify them, and 
they all cried out, ''Americanos siempre caballeros." * 
To this I replied, ''Siempre." To the other question, 
whether they could go on board their ships and get their 
belongings, I replied I had not the authority to give them 
that permission ; but that I had a boat there, and if any 
of them wished, I would allow them to take it and go over 
to the Petrel, and that I was sure the captain would give 
them permission. My remark seemed to strike them 
queerly, for they half smiled and remarked that they did 
not care to take advantage of my kind offer. I then said, 
"Very well; I will go over myself and ask the captain and 
come back and tell you what he says." I did this, and 

* "Americans always gentlemen." 



256 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

soon returned to the arsenal with the captain's permis- 
sion. They were awaiting my reply, and when I told 
them that the captain gave his free permission on the 
condition that none of them would attempt to put out the 
fires on board their ships, they seemed much pleased, 
and some of them said again, "Americanos siempre cabal- 
leros." Now, the peculiar ending of this incident was 
that, although there was a number of small boats at hand 
belonging to the arsenal, not one of these officers went 
to a ship or took advantage in any way of the permis- 
sion they had requested and received! 

My men were soon engaged in the work of clearing 
away the fastenings that held the tugs and launches, and 
for some reason that I cannot now remember this work 
was not easy. Seeing a number of Spanish sailors con- 
gregated about, looking on with lang-uid interest, I told 
a couple of them to help. This they did without any ob- 
jection, and I soon had a number of our enemies pulling 
and hauling and working away like good sailors. The 
consequence was that in an hour or two I was going back 
to the Petrel with two large tugs, three steam launches, 
and some smaller boats. 

By this time Hughes had returned to the Petrel, hav- 
ing with the assistance of Ensign Fermier fully carried 
out his dangerous work, and the rest of the fleet was well 
out in the bay. Then the Petrel steamed up toward it, 
towing our prizes. At nightfall the whole fleet started 
towards Manila city, lighted on our way by the brilliant 
flames of the ships of our conquered foes. 

The events just narrated seemed at the time perfectly 
natural and to be expected. When the battle was over, 
we did not feel that we had done anything wonderful; 
and I do not believe that anybody in the fleet appreciated 
the fact that the Battle of Manila was one of the most im- 
portant battles that had ever been fought in any coun- 
try or in any age, and would be recorded in history as one 
of the ''Decisive Battles of the World." 



CHAPTER XVII 

APTER THE BATTLE 

SHORTLY after the Petrel anchored near Manila city 
with the fleet, the men went to supper, and the officers 
went to dinner. The talk all over the ship was mainly 
about the battle. All were surprised at the small loss 
in the American ships, and all agreed that the reason was 
that most of the enemy's shots went too far or else too 
short ; because the sea between us and the Spaniards had 
been covered with spouts of water thrown up by their 
falling shell, and so had the sea beyond us, and our ships 
were so close behind one another "that any Spanish shot 
that had gone to the proper distance would have been al- 
most sure to hit some ship, even if it had gone to the 
right or the left of the ship aimed at. Of course we had 
known for years that the real reason why ships are not 
hit more in battle is because shots go too far or too 
short, but this object lesson stamped the fact deep in our 
minds. It stamped the fact so deep in my mind that 
now it seems almost a law of nature, and ninety per 
cent, of the art of naval gunnery seems to me to be the 
art of merely shooting to the correct distance. This 
means three things: first, finding what the correct dis- 
tance is ; second, using the proper powder and projectiles ; 
and, third, firing the gun when it is elevated at the cor- 
rect angle. 

Hughes told us at dinner how he had set fire to the 
Spanish ships. His work must have been very trying 
to the nerves, because every ship had a great' deal of 
powder in it, and it was only to be expected that the 
Spaniards had made arrangements for blowing the ships 
up ; so that every man felt that the next instant he might 

257 



258 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

be hurled high into the air, the members of his body torn 
apart, and mixed with flying masses of steel and wood 
and brass. Hughes said that the thing which shook his 
nerve the most happened when he was in the wardroom of 
the Isla de Luzon alone. Hearing a slight muffled sound, 
he turned around quickly, and saw coming out of a room 
close to him a big, naked black man. This man was 
shaking with terror, however, and almost in a state of 
collapse, so that he was clearly not a bogy man, but 
ordinary flesh and blood. Hughes recognized the fact 
that we had no use for prisoners of any kind, and so 
put him ashore at once. No sooner did the man's feet 
strike good, dry ground than he sprang forward and 
ran away, like the frightened savage that he was. 

Hughes brought with him from the Isla de Cuba a 
pathetic object, a wounded little monkey that one of his 
men had found down in the engine-room. The men had 
heard the cries of some little animal coming from be- 
low, and following the cries, they had gone to the engine- 
room, which they found almost full of water ; and there, 
just showing above the water, they saw a bleeding 
monkey's head. On trying to rescue him, they found 
that he was held by a belt around the waist to a chain, 
and that this chain was secured to some part of the 
engine-room. The monkey had got as far up as he could, 
and if the water had risen a little higher, he would have 
been drowned. In some way his nose had received a 
violent blow that had cut through the nose bone, and it 
was bleeding so fast that his thin little body was like a 
sponge that was being squeezed. They rescued the 
monkey from his danger, and brought him on board the 
Petrel, where the surgeon bound up his wounds and min- 
istered to his needs most carefully for the monkey was 
his only wounded patient. The men christened the 
monkey ''Alfonso the Last," and he was always known 
afterward as Alfonso. 

He was different from any other monkey we had ever 
seen. Most monkeys are interesting, but they are so 



AFTER THE BATTLE 259 

mischievous and dirty that they soon become nuisances; 
while Alfonso was as quiet and nice as any other pet, 
and as affectionate as a puppy. He came to have his own 
particular chums in the ship, but divided his innermost 
affections between Hughes, the executive officer, and Hart, 
a quartermaster. He used to like to go to sleep under 
Hughes 's blouse, in the warm afternoons on the poop, and 
next to this, his particular delight was to go to Hart and 
have him blow tobacco smoke down his throat. A few 
months later one of the sailors took Alfonso ashore in 
Hong-Kong, and they both got very drunk at the Vic- 
toria bar. Some mate of a merchant ship took advantage 
of this, and stole Alfonso, and took him on board his 
ship; but the men of the Petrel sent a message to the 
proprietor of the bar that if Alfonso was not found, the 
Victoria bar would be boycotted by all the sailors of 
the American fleet. Alfonso was brought on board next 
day. 

The evening of May 1 was calm and beautiful; there 
was hardly a cloud in the sky, and the stars were bright, 
and the water was smooth. To the south seven large 
red flames, rising with smoke to the sky, showed where 
lay the shapeless wrecks of seven ships that fourteen 
hours before had carried the flag of Spain and sjnnbolized 
her glory. To the east we saw the city of Manila, with 
its electric lights and gas-lights, and its vague sky-line 
of spires and towers and domes and distant hills. 

What was going on in that city? What was going on 
all along its water-front and on the Pasig River? Prob- 
ably the Spaniards were making preparations for an at- 
tack upon our fleet. We did not know much about 
Manila, but we knew that the population was not less 
than a quarter of a million, and that there were many 
water craft of all kinds, from ocean steamers down to 
rowboats, including tugs, launches, barges, and floats. 
We knew that there must be many thousand Spanish 
soldiers there, and many thousand armed Filipinos who 
had been insurgents, but might now join with the Span- 



260 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

iards to drive off a common foe. We did not know 
whether there were any regular torpedo-boats about ; but 
we said to each other that the Spaniards had long known 
that there would be war, and that they had had plenty 
of time to rig up improvised torpedo-boats, and it seemed 
very likely to us that they would send an expedition at 
us that night, composed, in part, of them. Of course it 
would be a desperate deed, but was it not the proper 
time to do a desperate deed? 

Our ships were ordered by Commodore Dewey, by 
signal, to have armed guards on deck and to keep a very 
bright lookout ; so, on board the Petrel, half of one watch 
was kept on deck armed, and plenty of ammunition was 
put near the guns, and all preparations were made for 
getting up more from the magazines. At ten o'clock 
everything was ready, and everybody was tired; so, when 
I turned in then, it was not hard to go to sleep. 

Some time later I was roused by a frightful noise. I 
started up in my bunk, and my stimulated senses soon 
told me that the noise was the clanging of the alarm- 
gong that called the crew to quarters in emergency. Of 
course I had not undressed completely, and it did not 
take me long to get on deck; but when I got there, I 
found most of the men already at their stations by their 
guns, and the gun captains standing behind the guns, 
with their eyes looking over the sights. 

"What 's the matter?" I asked of some one. 

'^Torpedo attack, sir," was the reply. 

I relieved the officer of the deck, and stepped up on the 
poop. There I could get a good view of the water, and I 
quickly saw what looked like a torpedo-boat brought out 
into startling distinctness by a search-light from one of 
our ships. A second glance showed, however, that it was 
not a regular torpedo-boat, but, as I remember, a white 
launch or small tug. Her fate was evidently sealed, for 
nearly all the guns in the fleet were turned on her, and 
she was so bright an object that the gun-sights showed 
clearly outlined against her. But of course, we reasoned, 



AFTER THE BATTLE 261 

the Spaniards had not sent one torpedo-boat alone ; there 
must be others rushing toward us from other directions ; 
and so a dozen search-light beams were sent darting over 
the harbor. We looked on all sides, but could not see any 
other boats ; only the white light rays and the dark water 
and the dim city and the dull-red glow cast on the sky 
by the burning ships, except where a search-light brought 
into sudden vividness a ship or tower or narrow streak of 
water. I remember the tension of my brain, and almost 
see the strained attitudes of the men about the guns. 
Yet, when the loading of the guns had been done, there 
was not a sound; every man seemed simply waiting. 
The temptation to fire was tremendous; yet not a shot 
was fired. We saw that boat steer directly at the flag- 
ship, and then, to our amazement, go peacefully alongside ! 
Some man went up the ladder to the deck. We heard 
afterward (but of course the story is not true) that 
when this man reached the deck, he was met by Com- 
modore Dewey, who greeted him with the information 

that he was a d fool. 

I do not noAv remember who the man was, or why he 
started at night in war to go on board a fighting ship, 
but I remember that his business was not important. 
And he may be thankful that the coolness of the men 
behind the guns saved him from gurgling and bleeding 
out his life that night under the waters of Manila Bay. 
Next morning most of us went on deck early to look at 
our surroundings. The sun was already intensely hot, 
and shining through clear air out of a bright sky ; there 
was no breeze, and no ripple. The ships of our fleet 
were lying near together off the city of Manila, perhaps 
two miles away, and the ships of the Spanish fleet were 
about seven miles to the southward, near Cavite. Three 
of them were sunk, and beyond them were the seven 
that had been set on fire. These w^ere still burning, while 
a long red steamer was aground, and also burning, be- 
tween the American fleet and the Spanish fleet, close to 
the shore, and about six miles south of Manila. This 



262 FROM xMIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

steamer had been set on fire by the Concord, and we 
afterward found that she was the transport Isla de 
Mindanao. 

The city of Manila looked distinctly Spanish. Of 
course the most prominent object was the cathedral, 
whose dome rose beautiful and high. In masses, grouped 
about it, were many fine buildings that we could not see 
very plainly. This part of Manila we afterward found 
was the old and walled city, the city of Manila proper. 
To the southward and the northward the fine buildings 
gradually shaded away into smaller ones, toward small 
huts that were evidently in the suburbs. In the fore- 
ground, between us and the cathedral, was a lighthouse, 
on the end of a river that came through the city to the 
bay. Along the extreme background ran mountains that 
were high and far away. 

Captain Lamberton, chief of staff, came on board early, 
and with him, I think, was Mr. Joseph Stickney, war 
correspondent. Then the Petrel picked up her anchor 
and steamed rapidly southward towards the arsenal at 
Cavite. Later the entire squadron followed her. The 
Petrel passed the sunken ships Reina Christina, Castilla, 
and Don Juan d' Ulloa, which had sunk somewhat to the 
northward of the bastion of the arsenal, passed the bas- 
tion, and went to her anchorage of the day before in 
Bacoor Bay, directly in front of the landing-place of 
the arsenal. Captain Lamberton and Mr. Stickney went 
ashore to the arsenal, and shortly afterward returned. 
If I remember aright, we heard, when they returned, that 
the Spanish army officers told Captain Lamberton that 
the surrender of the day before had been the surrender 
of the navy only, and that neither the arsenal nor the 
army had surrendered. To this Captain Lamberton re- 
plied that he would give them until eleven o'clock for 
all to surrender; and that if the white flag was not 
hoisted on the arsenal by that time, the whole fleet would 
open fire on it. 

Soon a white steam launch was seen coming from the 



AFTER THE BATTLE 263 

arsenal. It came alongside the Petrel, and three Span- 
ish officers came on board. They were received with the 
honors due their rank, which they acknowledged with dig- 
nity. Evidently they were under a heartbreaking strain, 
and surely it would be a cold heart that would not pity 
them. These were officers who had been terribly beaten 
in battle; their entire naval force had been wiped out, 
and their military force had nothing to hope for. These 
were officers of a country whose battle they had lost, 
whose power they had failed to uphold, and whose glory 
had perished in their keeping. These were officers of a 
country that was not magnanimous, and might repay 
their brave, but futile, efforts with indignity. Most of 
them had their wives and families in Manila. Manila 
had close in front of it a powerful, victorious fleet; and 
behind it and in it, and all around it tens of thousands of 
bitterly hostile Filipinos, partly organized and armed, 
waiting for revenge. 

The Spanish officers went into the cabin, and shortly 
after came out and got into their boat, and went ashore. 
Soon after, a white flag was run up at the arsenal. We 
understood that the Spanish naval and military people 
were allowed to leave the arsenal and go where they 
wished. It was impossible for Commodore Dewey to ac- 
cept them as prisoners of war, because, if he did, he 
would become responsible for them; and what could he do 
with them? 

That afternoon there were signs of great activity in the 
arsenal while the Spanish were leaving. The next day 
they had all gone, and a force of American marines was 
put in charge. 

The arsenal is built on the end of a long neck of land, 
which is quite narrow, and protrudes from the main body 
of the island; and the principal gate of the arsenal is 
placed near where the narrow neck of land meets the 
larger piece of ground on which the arsenal stands. The 
headquarters of the marines was near this gate, and 
guards were stationed at the important points of the 



264 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

arsenal, the most important point being, of course, the 
main gate itself. The Petrel was anchored at her station 
near the dock, and the larger vessels of the fleet lay not 
far to the northward, in deeper water. 

The next afternoon a party w^ent ashore at the arsenal 
from some of the ships, on what mission we of the Petrel 
did not know. We saw them ashore behind some trees, 
and after a while they seemed to be digging. Then they 
went away. Soon some of them reappeared, and we 
could see that they were carrying some things which they 
seemed to throw into a hole ; we could also see that they 
had their black neckerchiefs over their mouths and noses, 
and that they held their heads away from the things they 
were carrying. This was kept up for perhaps half an 
hour. Then the party reappeared together and seemed 
to dig again. Then they disappeared again, and soon 
came down to the landing, and got into their boats, and 
went past the Petrel, back to their ships. We could see 
that they looked very much depressed. We learned aft- 
erward that they were a burial-party. A number of 
wounded Spaniards had been taken to the hospital in the 
arsenal and had died there ; and when the men from our 
fleet buried them, they had to protect their own mouths 
and noses with their black neckerchiefs. 

Later that day the captain sent for me and said that 
he wished me to go on board the Manila that evening, stay 
on board all night, and try to get her off next morning. 
The Mainla was a Spanish transport nearly twice as large 
as the Petrel, and had been run aground in soft mud in 
Bacoor Bay, a considerable distance ahead of where the 
Petrel lay. The captain told me to pick as many men as 
I needed for the deck force, and told Hall to pick the 
engineer's force. I do not remember how many men 
Hall and I took; but I know our idea was rather to get 
trustworthy men than to get many, for we might be at- 
tacked. So about seven o'clock that evening, after din- 
ner, we went alongside the Manila, and I walked up the 
long ladder that hung do^^^l to the water to take my first 



AFTER THE BATTLE 265 

command, followed by Hall and perhaps forty men, all 
well armed. 

I found the Manila was just beyond the outer wall of 
the arsenal, close to the shore, right opposite the neck of 
land that connected the arsenal with the mainland of the 
island, and near a large village ; but the burned ships were 
near, and when a whitf of air came from their direction, 
I could smell burned wood. We searched the ship thor- 
oughly to see if there were any men concealed on board, 
or if there were any slow matches laid to blow up the 
magazines. 

Hall sent some of his party below to start fires under 
the boilers, and then we searched for ammunition for the 
various guns about the deck, which were mostly Norden- 
feldts of different kinds. We found a good deal of am- 
munition scattered about near one of the magazines, and 
we put plenty of it behind the guns. The guns were in 
good condition and easily got ready. 

On going to the state-rooms, of which there were a 
number, we found basins of blood and water, with sponges 
in them, pieces of lint stained with pus and blood, and 
rumpled beds, with bloody mattresses, which showed that 
wounded men had been cared for in them. On the main- 
deck were about thirty cows. These cows did not have 
the peaceful air that most cows have, but were very much 
excited, and kept running about, so that we had to pen 
them in the forward part of the deck. 

By the time we had got the ammunition up and the guns 
ready it was nearly dark; so Hall and I had our mat- 
tresses spread out in the chart-room, which was on the 
upper deck, under the bridge, because we would get the 
most air there. I had my mattress put on the table, and 
Hall had his put on the deck. 

Before turning in, I went on the bridge and took a 
look around. It was dark now and absolutely quiet, 
except for the continuous barking of dogs on shore and 
the frequent reports of muskets. I have never known 
why there was so much firing that night. From the 



266 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

bridge I tried to see where the firing came from, but I 
could only make out that some came from the arsenal, but 
that most of it seemed to come from the village. I could 
occasionally see the flashes, and sometimes I heard the 
whistle of a bullet. 

The village was on our starboard side, and the smolder- 
ing flames of the Spanish ships were on our port side. 
Directly ahead there was nothing but darkness. The 
search-lights of our ship did not light up the water ahead 
of us, but I could discern a number of boats moving about 
there, and I wondered if some Spaniards were in them, 
getting ready to board us and have revenge. To the 
northward — that is, astern — -I thought I could see the 
form of the Petrel. Beyond her were our other ships, 
but I could not see them. The main thing that attracted 
my attention and held it was the mosquitos. They were 
not only numerous, but aggressive ; and I saw one sentry 
whom I had put on the bridge striking at them with his 
musket. 

After making a tour of the dark and silent ship and 
cautioning the sentries, I went to the chart-room and 
turned in on the table. The mosquitos bothered me a 
great deal, and so did the occasional reports of muskets 
and the memory of the boats; but I was tired and soon 
fell into a sleep. 

How long I slept I do not know, but I was awakened 
by an intermittent, jerky sound, which was low in tone, 
but very loud. I got up and went out on the deck, and 
saw the quartermaster and corporal of the guard there, 
and asked them what was the matter. One of them said : 

"It 's the steam whistle, sir." 

I said : 

''Why don't you stop it?" and he replied that they did 
not know what was the matter with it. 

Just then Hall cried out : 

''Here it is; some one has made fast an awning-stop 
to the steam whistle." 

We found this was the case. In securing the awning 



AFTER THE BATTLE 267 

that evening, somebody had tied an awning-stop to the 
line that pulled the whistle. It made no trouble then; 
but afterward steam formed, and rose in the steam pipe 
to the valve that was controlled by the line to which the 
awning-stop was made fast. Later a little breeze sprang 
up and flapped the awning, so that the awning-stop pulled 
at the whistle-line irregularly. The result was a most 
extraordinary gasping and coughing by the steam whistle. 
We heard afterward that this alarmed the Petrel, and 
that she was about to send a relief party to our rescue 
when the noise ceased. 

I turned in again, but scarcely had I got asleep when I 
was roused by what sounded like a charge of cavalry. 
On investigation I found the cows had broken loose, and 
it took all hands to get them back where they belonged. 
Again I turned in and went to sleep, but only to be awak- 
ened by a voice calling me softly. I did not pay much 
attention at first ; but the call was repeated, until I finally 
roused myself and looked up, and saw the corporal of 
the guard, holding a dim lantern in his hand. 

''Sir, the men have broken into the wine-locker," he 
whispered. 

Now, this was important, so I got up and put on my 
shoes and went down the ladder to the main-deck, and 
then groped down a long, wide, old wooden ladder that 
went into the hold. 

''Right ahead of you, sir," said the corporal ; so I went 
ahead, and finally found a door which I could see by the 
light of the corporal's lantern behind. Going through 
this door, I found myself in a large compartment in which 
there were a great many barrels, and I could see a man, 
with his back to me, stooping over. He heard me com- 
ing, and, speaking over his shoulder, said: 

"Ah, birdie, you on to the game?" 

I answered that I was not, and asked him what the 
game was. He recognized my voice and said : 

"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Fiske, for speaking to you in that 
way, sir. I didn't know it was you, sir; but us men in 



268 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the engineer department got thirsty, and we heard there 
was some good water here in casks, sir, and so I came 
here to get some. But it looks to me as if was n't water, 
sir, but wine." 

The man's presence of mind filled me with admiration, 
and so I told him merely to pour out his wine on the deck 
and go back to his work. I then had the corporal get an 
ax and break in the head of the barrel. And I saw thir- 
ty-three gallons of the delicious wine of Spain flow all 
over the dirty deck and trickle down into the bilge, and 
smelt its delightful fragrance. 

I ascended to the bridge and watched the boats moving 
about in the dim light, and then went back to bed again ; 
but had not slept very long when daylight came. By this 
time the men were about the deck drinking their coffee 
and making their slender breakfast. Hall reported that 
he had steam on the engine and would like to turn the 
engine over. We went on the forecastle then to see how 
the anchor gear looked. We found it in good condition, 
and got the anchor up without difficulty. Why the Span- 
iards had taken the trouble to anchor the ship I do not 
know ; for she was hard and fast aground. 

When looking about the deck we had seen a long trough 
under a tank on the starboard side, and a pipe above the 
tank, and while we were looking at the trough, we had 
noticed that the cows were even more restless than usual, 
and tried to get to the trough. After getting the anchor, 
it suddenly occurred to us that perhaps the cows were 
thirsty, and that it was this trough from which they used 
to drink. So we investigated, and found that the pipe 
led to the tank from a pump; and then I sent a couple 
of men to pump water. At the sight of the water the 
cows got completely beyond our control and rushed to 
the water, the strong ones shoving the weaker aside. I 
never before got such a clear idea of what a torture 
thirst must be. The cows that saw the water, and could 
not reach it, seemed to be in agony; those that drank 



AFTER THE BATTLE 269 

seemed to feel that bliss which only those who have been 
suddenly freed from awful pain can understand. 

Hall said that the ship was so deep in the mud that the 
injection-valve, where the water came in for the con- 
denser, was covered with mud, and that the circulating- 
pump was not independent, but connected to the main en- 
gine ; so that he could not pump water through the con- 
denser except by turning the main engine. He then sug- 
gested that by backing and going ahead alternately he 
could pump in mud and water through the injection-valve, 
and thus make a kind of trough immediately outside the 
injection-valve, so that afterward clear water could come 
in, which the circulating-pump would force through the 
condenser. This would clean out the mud, and the con- 
denser would then be ready for work. This was done 
for a while, until Hall finally reported that clean water 
was coming out the outboard delivery-valve, showing that 
the condenser had been washed out. 

It must have been about seven o'clock when Hall re- 
ported that everything was ready with the engines. I 
shoved the engine telegraph to full speed astern, and, 
to my delight, the ship began to move, slowly at first, then 
faster and faster. The Petrel's chief quartermaster, 
Ecklund, was at the wheel; and as soon as the ship got 
out of the mud, I found she steered beautifully going 
astern. We gathered headway rapidly, and by the time 
that we had passed the quarter of a mile which separated 
us from the Petrel, we were going through the water at a 
fine rate. Thinking what a pretty sight this prize would 
make as seen from the Petrel, I steered as close to her 
as I could until I got just abreast of her stern, and then 
starboarded the helm, rounded to astern of her, and then 
went ahead with port helm, headed for the Boston, about 
half a mile away. Five minutes later we anchored close 
to the Boston; Captain Wildes took the Manila under his 
charge, and we all went back to the Petrel. 

About the middle of July it seemed to some of us that 



270 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

matters were becoming critical and that Admiral Dewey 
was getting into a difficult position, and I heard several 
prophecies that he would lose his reputation where he 
made it — in Manila Bay. 

In addition to our troubles with the Spaniards, we 
had also our troubles with the Filipinos. We knew that 
the powers of Europe were not at all sure yet as to 
whether or not they would intervene to prevent the United 
States from taking the Philippines. We knew that they 
would be very much more likely to intervene if we made 
any mistakes, or got into any trouble with the Filipinos 
or with any other nation, than if we were successful in 
everything; consequently it was very desirable to us that 
everything should run smoothly. We knew that some of 
the foreign powers were watching us very closely, and 
we heard that Prince Henry had said to Consul Goodnow 
in Shanghai, "The powers will not permit you to keep the 
Philippines." 

We also knew that Prince Henry was brother to the 
kaiser, and inferred that as he was on duty in Asia in 
command of a squadron, his utterances were probably 
official. 

It was clear to us, therefore, that Admiral Dewey had 
his hands full, and it is not surprising that we viewed with 
much anxiety the strange actions of a German squadron 
in the bay. We were holding an effective blockade of 
Manila Bay and were a recognized belligerent. There- 
fore, by all the rules of war and military courtesy Manila 
Bay was ours, and Admiral Dewey had the war right 
and duty to do everything in the bay that he thought 
necessary to the successful prosecution of the war. One 
thing was the boarding of every vessel, war vessel or 
merchant vessel, that came into the harbor. What was 
our astonishment on hearing that the admiral of the 
German fleet objected to his ships being boarded, and 
that he had a council of war on board his flag-ship at 
which the captains of the war-ships of the various neu- 
tral nations were present, and at which he proposed the 



AFTER THE BATTLE 271 

question to each one, ''Would you permit your vessel to 
be searched by a foreign man-of-war?" A lieutenant 
of the British ship Immortalite told me that Captain Sir 
Edward Chichester, the captain of the Immortalite, was 
the first one to whom this question was addressed, and 
he answered that he was not the junior at the table, and 
therefore would not answer first. The officers answered 
afterward in the inverse order of their rank, each one, 
including Chichester, saying, "No." Then Chichester 
said: 

"It is not a question of being searched; it is simply a 
question of being boarded on coming into a blockaded 
harbor in time of war by the admiral of the blockading 
fleet. The admiral has a perfect right to board all neu- 
tral men-of-war. ' ' And he opened an official book, which 
he had brought with him from his ship, from which he 
read his authority for this statement. 

Then it was very confusing, when we were using our 
search-lights at night, to have the German fleet use their 
search-lights at the same time. That they knew that 
their relations with the Americans were strained is shown 
by the fact, told us later by one of their officers, that on 
one occasion one of their ships, which had been outside 
for a short time, came into the bay cleared for action. 
But perhaps the thing that caused us the most surprise 
was one of their ships preventing Aguinaldo from taking 
Isla Grande in Subig Bay. Admiral Dewey then sent 
the Raleigh and Concord to take it. It was reported in 
the bay that the German admiral endeavored to get Ad- 
miral Dewey to commit himself in regard to the Filipinos 
then by asking him, with relation to this incident, whether 
or not he recognized the Filipino flag. 

The reason for the actions of the German fleet was a 
point much debated by us in the Petrel. One side held 
that they were not really trying to make things difficult 
for the Americans, but that from long habit they had 
come to regard Americans as of small account, and were 
simply acting thoughtlessly. 



272 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

This side had a very strong case, for Europeans did 
not then have much respect for Americans as a naval peo- 
ple or as a nation. This may seem a strong statement, 
but for years American officers in all parts of the world 
had been smarting under the light way in which they and 
the United States were regarded by Europeans. It was 
not that we were treated with positive discourtesy by 
European officers and European people, but that we were 
patronized. Most Europeans had no adequate idea of 
the immensity of the United States, and even those who 
did regarded the United States as a collection of separate 
States, held together very loosely in a sort of confeder- 
ation, without any real national organization, and there- 
fore without any national strength. They had been ac- 
customed to see our miserable ships in different parts of 
the world ; and being used from childhood to the idea that 
a war-ship represents her country, and that one can tell 
from a war-ship what kind of country she belongs to, they 
had come to the conclusion that the United States and 
her people, while industrious, moral, and rich in a mate- 
rial sense, were not people who belonged in the polite 
society of nations. And we knew that for years in Euro- 
pean courts American ministers were not expected to act 
like the ministers and ambassadors of European coun- 
tries, and that some European courts had instructed their 
ministers and ambassadors to tolerate certain rudenesses 
in American ministers that they would not tolerate in 
other ministers. 

The other side in this argument insisted that the Ger- 
man fleet was carefully trying to exasperate Admiral 
Dewey into committing some indignant act that would 
put him in the wrong, and stir up a hostile feeling against 
him among the other men-of-war in the harbor ; that, as 
one of them expressed it, "they were putting stumbling- 
blocks for him to trip over." They quoted the rude 
remark of Prince Henry to Consul Goodnow in Shanghai, 
that the powers would not permit the United States to 
keep the Philippines, and pointed out that it was known 



AFTER THE BATTLE 273 

that his country wanted larger trade in Asia and better 
means of influence. They asserted that she was entering 
into competition in trade in Asia, but was handicapped 
by having little land there, and that it would be very un- 
fortunate for her trade if the United States should get 
the Philippines, because the United States would then 
have a base that would help immensely American trade 
and influence. They asserted his country was known to 
be very ambitious ; that she had stood before the world 
for many years as the nation that had made greater ad- 
vances in music, mathematics, physical science, and mili- 
tary science than any other nation; that she combined 
more than any other nation the qualities of profound 
thought, inventiveness, thoroughness, courage, and phy- 
sical health, and that within the last few years she 
had turned herself toward naval matters and had there 
shown the same superlative ability that she had shown 
in all other things that she had tried, but that her terri- 
tory was too small to support her people, that it was 
desirable for her that her trade should grow; and that 
she did not want any more competition in Asian trade 
than she already had. 

This side also held that, whatever might have been the 
feelings of the other officers, the steps taken by the Ger- 
man admiral were taken in obedience to orders from his 
Government ; and, in fact, that no one having knowledge 
of the admirably exact methods of their discipline could 
believe that steps involving such grave international is- 
sues could possibly have been taken otherwise ; and that, 
since these steps were very embarrassing to the Ameri- 
can fleet when it was engaged in war, and were taken by 
a fleet that professed to be a friendly neutral, and was 
enjoying the privileges of a friendly neutral in a block- 
aded port, they bore some slight resemblance to the act 
of a man who, being privileged to be present at a duel 
as a friend of both contestants, should jar the elbow of 
one contestant at the instant he fired his pistol. 

I remember that Admiral Dewey came alongside of the 



274 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Petrel one forenoon, and seeing Commander Wood stand- 
ing on the poop, said with that manner which suggests 
a gentleman asking a lady for a dance: ''Good morn- 
ing, Wood. I should be very glad if you would come 
ashore to the arsenal with me and take a walk." The 
captain got into the admiral's barge, and they went to- 
gether to the arsenal. Not very long afterward they 
came back, and the admiral came on board with the cap- 
tain and took lunch in the cabin. Later he sat on the 
poop, and some of us talked at intervals with him. Of 
course we observed him somewhat anxiously, but he 
seemed to have nothing whatever on his mind, and talked 
with us about anything. Captain Wood, however, seemed 
to have something on his mind. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE CAPTURE OF MANILA CITY 

ON the morning of August 13, after the decks were 
cleaned and the bright work polished, the men went 
to breakfast at half past seven. The ship was already 
cleared for action. Ammunition was on deck, and every- 
thing was ready. By half past eight everybody had had 
his breakfast and was standing by. We knew by this 
time that we were to get under way at nine o'clock and 
steam south directly in front of the guns of the city until 
we should get opposite Fort San Antonio, the extreme 
southern end of the defenses of Manila, about two miles 
distant from our anchorage. The German and French 
men-of-war were lying to the northwest, out of range of 
the guns of Manila. The Concord was about two miles 
north of the Petrel, opposite the village of Tondo, where 
the entrenchments of the Spanish came dowm to the bay, 
and while not exactly out of range of the Manila guns, 
was rather over on one side. The American fleet and 
the American transports could be seen about seven miles 
to the south, off Cavite, and near them were the English 
and Japanese men-of-war. There was a great deal of 
smoke coming from the American ships off Cavite, and 
we knew that, even if the Spaniards in Manila had not 
received notice that the American fleet was about to at- 
tack them, this unusual amount of smoke would tell them 
so. 

I went up on the bridge about half past eight. Look- 
ing through a spy-glass, I could see plainly the whole 
front of the batteries of Manila. Directly to the east of 
us, near the Pasig Eiver, which came down through 
Manila to the bay, was one of the large 9.2-inch guns. 

275 



276 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

Extending to our right — that is, toward the south — was 
the long wall of Manila proper, running perhaps half a 
mile. In openings cut in this wall I could see very many 
small cannon. Near the water was a long line of some 
kind of fortification. I could see two very large guns 
pointing over this fortification, besides some smaller guns. 
Still farther to the right, perhaps half a mile south of 
the end of the wall of the city, at the end of the Luneta, 
was another very large gun. I could see signs of a great 
deal of stirring about. Of course I could not see behind 
the walls of the city of Manila proper, but I could get a 
good view of the ground in the neighborhood of various 
guns, and about these guns I could discern groups of 
soldiers. It was plain that the people in Manila knew 
what was about to happen and that the soldiers had taken 
their stations. 

Commander Wood soon came on the bridge, and we 
discussed the situation. I have never known how much 
he knew about what was to be done, but I do not think 
that he knew much more about it than I did. He was 
perfectly self-possessed and calm, and I said to him : 

*'I hope they will let the Ppfrel get do^vn to her posi- 
tion otT Fort San Antonio before the rest of the fleet be- 
gins to close in." 

''Yes, I hope so, too," he answered. 

I handed him the telescope, and pointed out where he 
could see the groups of soldiers gathered about the guns. 
He examined them carefully, and handed the glass back 
to me, but said nothing. I said to him : 

"I bet one of the officers last night a dollar that we 
would not be hit to-day even with a brick, and I expect 
to win the bet." 

He said he thought I would win the bet, and added 
that the Spaniards, if they chose, could sink us right 
where we were in five minutes, and that not a soul on 
board would last five minutes longer; but that he felt 
sure himself that, if the Spaniards had wanted to do 
that, they would have done it before now. I said I 



THE CAPTURE OF MANILA CITY 277 

agreed with him entirely, but I think both of us awaited 
the coming minutes with a good deal of anxiety. 

Soon after, a signal flew out from the flag-ship, ''Pre- 
pare to get under way." 

I must admit that I felt a cold feeling inside when 
I saw that this signal was made to the whole fleet and 
not to us alone, but I said to myself that perhaps the 
signal would be modified and that we should be given 
a chance to get down to our station before the other ships 
moved. If this was done, I thought that we should 
probably not be shot at ; but I thought that if we started 
to pass in front of all those guns, just when the rest of 
the fleet started toward them from Cavite, our going 
would look like part of a hostile demonstration, and we 
should be treated accordingly. 

Our anchor was already up, and soon the signal to 
get under way was hauled down. The captain moved 
the engine telegraph to full speed ahead. Somebody 
said: 

''Bradley, you are going to lose your bet." 

' ' No, I think not, ' ' I said, but in my heart I thought I 
should. 

The Petrel began to forge ahead slowly. The captain, 
Hughes, and I were on the bridge, and the men were at 
their battle-stations behind their guns. The guns were 
loaded, and the gun captains were standing behind them, 
looking over the gun-sights toward the guns of Manila. 
Through the glass I could see a round hole in one of the 
big guns, showing that the gun was pointed directly at 
us ; and as we moved along, I could see that the hole re- 
mained just as round as at first, showing that the Span- 
iards were keeping the gun continually pointed at us. 
We seemed to go extremely slow past all those guns, 
big and little, especially at first; but in about five min- 
utes we said to ourselves that if the Spaniards were go- 
ing to shoot at us, they would have done it already and, 
after that, we seemed to go faster. 

The weather had been miserable all the morning. It 



278 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

now began to rain slowly, so that things on shore and 
on the water looked less clear; but we could see our 
fleet gradually approaching the point toward which we 
were heading — a point near Fort San Antonio, and we 
recognized the fact that events were coming to a crisis. 

I have heard it stated since that Captain Sir Edward 
Chichester now moved the Immortalite between the 
American and the German fleets, and that historians 
have accepted it as a fact. I did not notice it at the time. 
I have never heard of any one else who noticed it, and I 
am sure it never happened. 

The Petrel took up a position southwest of Fort San 
Antonio, perhaps twenty-five hundred yards away; I do 
not remember exactly. The Olympia and Raleigh were 
northwest of us in deeper water, while the Boston, 
Charleston, and Baltimore were farther out in the bay. 
The Concord remained at her position off the northern 
end of the defenses of Manila. The Callao, which was 
now a United States gunboat, commanded by Lieutenant 
Tappan, and the tug Barcelo, were inshore of the Petrel, 
standing by to support the left flank of our troops, when 
they would advance toward the north, to take Fort San 
Antonio. The monitor Monterey, with her twelve-inch 
and ten-inch guns and her heavy armor, took up her 
position directly in front of the walled city, and we looked 
forward with interest to seeing what would happen when 
her eight-hundred-and-fifty-pound shell would begin to 
strike the fortifications. 

Imagine our disgust afterward when we found that the 
officers of the Monterey had known for three days that 
there would be no fight, and that Admiral Dewey had 
told Captain Leutze that the governor-general had tried 
to get him to allow the Spaniards to fire a few shots at 
the American fleet ''to save their honor," but that he 
(Dewey) had refused to be a party to any such proceed- 
ings as far as his fleet was concerned, though he had not 
thought it his business to object to the Spaniards' firing 



THE CAPTURE OF MANILA CITY 279 

as much at the American soldiers as they wished. So the 
Monterey was cleared for action, with orders to shell the 
9.2-inch Spanish guns and the city behind them if any 
shot was fired at one of Dewey's ships. No such shot was 
fired, of course, and the Monterey remained a passive 
spectator of the curious scene. 

We could not see any sign of the American soldiers on 
shore, but we had heard that General Greene had ad- 
vanced his whole force to the entrenchments just north 
of the convent, and that General MacArthur had taken 
possession of the Filipino entrenchments in front of 
Blockhouse No. 14; so that the American forces faced 
all that part of the Spanish forces that extended from 
Fort San Antonio eastward to Blockhouse No. 14. About 
two hundred yards south of the fort a small river ran be- 
tween the Spanish and the American lines. It had been 
supposed to be unf ordable ; but Major Franklin Bell had 
ascertained that it was fordable by the simple process of 
fording it himself. This was a very brave thing to do, 
and a very sensible one ; and I think it was the first of a 
remarkable series of brave and sensible things which he 
did in the Philippines, and which made him a brigadier. 

At half past nine the Olympia opened fire on Fort 
San Antonio. The Raleigh, Baltimore, and Petrel fol- 
lowed instantly. The critical moment had come, or, 
rather, we thought it had, and we of the Petrel braced 
ourselves to get our dose. 

The little ship went ahead with a vim, and shook all 
over with the violence of her exertions. But I could not 
locate her very satisfactorily on the chart, because there 
was no landmark near except the fort, from which I 
could not take a good angle. So I had to do a good deal 
of guessing about her position, and therefore a good deal 
of guessing about the range, and I wished with all my 
heart that the Petrel had my range-finder. Still, we 
banged away, and fired a great many projectiles. We 
could not tell where they went except when we saw some 



280 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

drop into the water, but we did the best we could, and 
perhaps some of them hit the fort. After this had gone 
on about ten minutes, I said to the captain : 

''Captain, I shouldn't be surprised if this whole per- 
formance was a sham. Don't you notice how slowly the 
Olympia is firing? And I don't think she is firing her 
eight-inch at all. Besides, I just saw a signal from 
Manila, and I have not seen the Monterey fire at all, and 
no one has fired at us." 

''Yes, I shouldn't be surprised if it were all a sham," 
said the captain, with a smile. 

During the battle of May 1 the gun-fire of the Petrel 
had gone like clockwork, but this day the performance 
was very unsatisfactory. We found a great deal of 
trouble in keeping our position and in getting our guns to 
bear well. The difference between the two occasions was 
that on the first of May the ships had been kept going 
through the water all the time at enough speed to give 
the captains good control of them, but on August 13 they 
hardly had steerageway. This did not make quite so 
much difference to the ships that had twin screws ; but to 
the Petrel, which had only a single screw, it was very 
exasperating. 

The ships had banged away for about an hour with- 
out getting any reply at all, when suddenly we saw al- 
most abreast of us a line of soldiers jumping apparently 
out of the ground. These soldiers deployed down to the 
beach, and then began to advance in line toward the 
north; that is, toward Fort San Antonio. Immediately 
the flag-ship signaled to the fleet, "Cease firing." 

The line of soldiers advanced rapidly, and we could 
hear the American field-artillery somewhere farther in- 
shore. Then the Spaniards began to reply from some 
place in front of them. We could not see any signs of 
the Spaniards or even of their smoke, because they used 
smokeless powder. The only thing we could see was the 
long line of our soldiers advancing toward the river — 
broAvn hats, blue bodies, and brown legs. They marched 



THE CAPTURE OF MANILA CITY 281 

directly into the river without hesitation, their supports 
coming up behind, and quickly gained the opposite shore. 

All this time there was a lot of firing from the Span- 
iards, but most of it seemed to be farther inshore than 
the fort; and we said to ourselves that we probably had 
driven the Spaniards out of the fort. Now we saw a 
small detachment of American troops dash forward, close 
to the beach, after they had forded the river. Then they 
ran along that side of Fort San Antonio which faced 
the beach, turned to their right, and disappeared. In a 
minute we saw the Spanish flag come dowm and the 
American flag go up. 

We could not see much of what happened after this, 
but we could tell from the sound of the musketry and 
artillery that the Spaniards were retreating toward the 
north — that is, toward the walled city — with great rapid- 
ity. 

The little Callao and the little Barcelo accompanied 
the left flank of our soldiers as they advanced toward 
the north, and kept the Spaniards back from the water- 
front. 

It was not long after this that we saw a large white 
flag on one of the southern bastions of the walled city. 
The admiral then hoisted the signal to Manila, ''Do you 
surrender?" 

We could not read the reply made from the city, but 
we afterward learned that the governor-general asked 
for a conference, and that Lieutenant-Colonel Whittaker 
and Lieutenant Brumby, who was Admiral Dewey's aid, 
went ashore to see what he wanted, Brumby carrying a 
very large American flag. 

Our fleet now formed in front of the city. Some time 
later the flag-ship threw out a signal that most of us 
had never seen before, and that probably most of us will 
never see again, "The enemy has surrendered." 

The Spanish flag was still flying over the city, and it 
was not hauled down and replaced by the American flag 
until five o'clock that afternoon. We found out after- 



282 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

ward that the Spanish authorities agreed to surrender 
when Whittaker and Brumby met them, but that they 
asked that some United States troops be sent up the 
Pasig River and landed in the walled city before the 
Spanish flag was hauled down, in order to preserve or- 
der. An Oregon regiment was sent ashore about four 
o'clock and stationed about the city. 

At five o'clock Lieutenant Brumby hoisted the Ameri- 
can flag over Manila, the capital of the Philippine Islands. 



CHAPTER XIX 

HONG-KONG, TAKU, SHANGHAI, AND A GALE OF WIND 

WE received orders to go to Hong-Kong for dock- 
ing on September 10; but our orders were de- 
layed by signal on September 9, and we beard that the 
cause was a sudden trouble with Aguinaldo. The trouble 
must have been smoothed over soon, however, for we 
started on September 15, feeling like school-boys off for 
a vacation. We had been in Manila Bay for nearly five 
months without any fun of any kind, and now we saw 
before us a few days of civilization and its pleasures. 

The trip was delightful, and when about two o'clock 
in the morning of the nineteenth I was called to go on 
the bridge, I saw ahead the revolving-light of Waglan 
Island, which stands outside Hong-Kong. The night 
was clear, and there was good daylight by half past five. 
We steamed forward among many islets, and soon passed 
between the high and rocky boundaries of the entrance 
to Hong-Kong. 

At half past six we dropped our anchor, and we looked 
about with delight on the round bay full of Chinese junks 
and sampans, each with its family on board, and the 
large ocean steamships. We looked over to Hong-Kong, 
and saw the familiar rectangular buildings, rising higher 
and higher above the water, and the terraces with their 
tennis-courts, and the railroad up the steep mountain- 
side. 

At eight 'clock we sat down to breakfast in the ward- 
room, and each man found in front of his plate the morn- 
ing newspaper, and each man picked up his newspaper 
and leaned back luxuriously in his chair and read it, and 
felt that he was in the world again and one of the people 
that lived in the world, and not an outsider. 

283 



284 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The admiral had told the captain to hurry back as 
soon as possible; so we had only four days in which to 
enjoy Hong-Kong, with our dinner at the club, which 
seemed so elegant, and our walks and our jinrickishas. 
One evening I dined w^ith Mr. and Mrs. Bottenheim at 
the Cragieburn, on Victoria Peak, After dinner we 
strolled about on the splendidly made English walks, cut 
in the solid rock and they pointed out the beautiful stone 
summer residences and the winding roads among the 
trees and the gentle curves of the hills, looking white 
and soft in the moonlight, and the thousand lights in 
the city and the bay beneath us, and the lighthouses far 
at sea, and the blue water stretching out to the horizon. 

At the end of four days the Petrel was steaming out 
again between the magnificent headlands, under the great 
cannon and over the submarine mines that guard the en- 
trance to Hong-Kong. 

We expected to take up our old station at Cavite when 
we got back to Manila Bay, and we looked forward dully 
to hot months of swinging idly around our anchor, doing 
nothing at all. We did do this for a week, but one after- 
noon Lieutenant Brumby came on board, went into the 
cabin, and stayed there about five minutes, and a few 
minutes later the captain came out and said to me, who 
was acting executive officer: 

**Get the ship ready to go to Taku to-morrow." 

I touched my cap and said, "Aye, aye, sir." Then 
I walked over to the port side of the quarter-deck, and 
one of the fellows said to me : 

"What 's that, go to Taku to-morrow?" 

"Yes, I think that 's what he said," I replied. If the 
captain had suddenly announced that we were to go to 
San Francisco to-morrow it would not have created much 
more astonishment. Taku is the port of Tientsin, in the 
extreme northern part of China, not far from Peking, and 
the change from Manila to Taku would be tremendous 
in every way. We knew that there must be some sudden 
trouble with the Chinese, for we had heard from time to 



A GALE OF WIND 285 

time that the ''Boxers" were becoming very active. So 
we said to ourselves that we were through with Manila 
and hot weather for a while, and were in for a winter at 
Tientsin. We knew that many war-vessels of different 
nations had often wintered at Tientsin, lying there as 
supports to their legations in Peking. 

On the evening of October 4, just at sunset, we steamed 
out, passing Corregidor Island, and looked back at the 
noble outline of Manila Bay, which had been our home 
during many months of vivid life. The weather was 
very warm and very beautiful, and that night and the 
next day we steamed quietly along and enjoyed the real 
luxury that ocean traveling sometimes is. 

But the Petrel was in the place where typhoons are 
the most frightful, and it was the month when they are 
the most frequent ; so we watched the weather keenly. 

October 5 was very fine, and so was the early morn- 
ing of the sixth; and we said to ourselves that ''Petrel 
luck" was keeping up, and that if the weather would 
only keep good until we reached the China coast, we 
could get protection after that. But later in the morn- 
ing of the sixth the wind began to freshen, and it fresh- 
ened rapidly; so rapidly indeed that in an hour and a 
half we were in a howling gale. 

We watched the weather signs carefully, and soon de- 
termined that this was not a typhoon, but the opening of 
the northeast monsoon. This relieved our minds a good 
deal ; but still we knew we were to have a very disagree- 
able time, because in the Formosa Channel, where we 
were, the northeast monsoon raises a tremendous sea. 

By nightfall the little Petrel seemed to be struggling 
for her life, pitching and squirming in a frightful sea, 
while waves broke over her and ran along her decks, and 
the rain came down in sheets, and the wind made a great 
noise as it struck the masts and rigging. 

Before I turned in I made up my mind to go up on the 
bridge and see how Ensign Fermier, the officer of the 
deck, was getting on. So I put on my oilskins and rub- 



286 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

ber boots, and staggered up to the bridge, guiding my- 
self in the darkness by the life-lines. I found Fermier 
holding on hard to the stanchions, his feet wide apart, 
peering ahead, where nothing but the white of breaking 
waves could be seen. 

The waves were coming down on the Petrel from the 
direction of her starboard bow. As her bow settled down 
into the water, and I watched the first oncoming wave, 
I noticed, as I looked up, that the wave was higher than 
our heads, and I said to myself that our time had come 
at last, that the Petrel could not possibly rise to such a 
wave as that, that it would fall down on the ship, and 
that would be the last of the Petrel and of us. But 
Fermier had become used to watching the high waves ; 
for he steadied himself with one arm around a stanchion 
and the other arm around my neck, and put his mouth 
close to my ear, so I could hear him, and sang : 

"Bother me eyes, the ship 's a-sinking; 
Bother me eyes, we '11 all be drowned ; 
Bother me eyes, we '11 go to the bottom ; 
And bother me eyes, we '11 never be found." 

It was not very pleasant on the bridge, so I thought I 
would go down and see if it was pleasant in the wardroom. 
I held on tight to the man-ropes going down the ladder, 
and looking back over my shoulder, I saw Fermier 's 
shoulders and head outlined against a white wave, and I 
felt sure that he would be washed off the bridge. But 
the Petrel rose to that wave, as she had risen to others, 
and so I staggered down into the wardroom. There were 
four officers there, and they did not seem to be enjoying 
themselves very much. The chairs and table were lashed 
to the deck, and the officers were sitting on the chairs, 
holding on as hard as they could to the table. Their con- 
versation was something like this : One man would say, 
''Wonder how long this thing 's going to keep up"; an- 
other would say, ''A man 's a fool to go to sea"; another 
would say, ''Don't think we '11 get much sleep to-night." 



A GALE OF WIND 287 

Just then there would be an awful thump somewhere, and 
we would hear water rushing along the deck. The ship 
would tremble, and we would all keep quiet. Then some- 
body would say, ' * That was a good one, ' ' another would 
say, ' ' Must have taken a lot of water on board that time, ' ' 
and so on. 

We gradually dispersed, each one staggering along 
toward his room, bumping against the bulkheads. The 
doctor and I were the last to leave. I was sitting on a 
chair that faced to starboard, and when the ship would 
roll to port, I would go over almost on my back, with my 
feet in the air ; and when it rolled to starboard, I would 
lean forward till I was nearly doubled up and grip the 
arms of the chair. Finally, I got up and went to my room 
as steadily as I could. As I entered my doorway, the 
ship gave a violent lurch, and I ran at my bunk with 
outstretched arms, but caught myself without injury. 
Undressing required considerable skill, but I finally suc- 
ceeded in accomplishing it, and then I turned in, and put 
out the electric light. While the light was turned on I 
had felt quite at home ; I was in a room, and I saw in front 
of me a desk, a mirror, and the pictures of my wife and 
daughter; but when the light was out, and I lay down 
on my bunk with my back against one side of the bunk 
and my knees against the other side, and heard the waves 
strike every few seconds against my air-port and then 
go away and come back again, and I thought to myself 
that those waves were only a foot away from my head, I 
felt that I was a tiny atom, out on the ocean, and almost 
in the ocean, in a howling gale of wind ; and I was very 
miserable indeed. 

We banged about in our bunks that night and got 
snatches of slumber once in a while. All the next day the 
little Petrel tossed and squirmed and rolled. Standing 
on deck and looking out over the large area of water 
and seeing the size of the waves, the Petrel seemed liter- 
ally to be tossed by them. She seemed very tiny and to 
be struggling against unfair odds ; and sometimes when 



288 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

a tremendous wave would lift her, she seemed almost to 
jump out of the water, like a flying-fish. 

A few days after, we rounded the promontory of 
Shantung, the northeast corner of China, and headed to 
the west, along the Gulf of Pechili. The tides in this 
remarkable sheet of water are absolutely impossible to 
predict, and I am told that even the pilots of the place 
make frequent mistakes about them. So the following 
evening about nine o'clock I was not astonished when 
we suddenly made out the lightship anchored otf Taku, 
three hours before we expected to make it out. The 
night was not very clear, and the lightship was not very 
far away; so before we quite realized that our trip was 
drawing to a close down went the anchor, and the engine 
ceased to throb. 

The Boston had left Manila three hours before we 
had, to go to Taku, and we expected to find her at anchor ; 
but we could not see anything except a few lights too 
close inshore to be hers and the twin lights of the light- 
ship. We afterward found that the Boston had had a 
hard time in the monsoon, and had gone into Amoy. 

After plotting the ship's position on the chart, I went 
down into the wardroom. There were a number of offi- 
cers sitting there, and Hughes turned to me, with a 
blissful smile on his face, and said: "Bradley, isn't 
this delightful?" There we were, out of sight of land, 
with no town nearer than twenty-five miles and that town 
not a very attractive one ; there was no chance of seeing 
any newspapers or going to the theater or seeing any- 
body that we did not live with all the time or of doing 
any other of the thousand and one things that people like 
to do. But the whirling of the propeller and the thump- 
ing of the engine and the vibration and rolling of the ship 
had stopped, and the strain of the trip was over. So 
when Hughes said, "Isn't this delightful," we leaned 
back in our chairs in the wardroom, where it was so quiet, 
and agreed that it was delightful. 

That night when I turned into my bunk I reminded 



A GALE OF WIND 289 

myself that I did not have to fear any attack of torpedo- 
boats or anything else, and that I was not in danger of 
being called because the search-lights did not work well, 
and that I should not have to get up at daylight next 
morning to pilot the ship all day in dangerous waters. 
So I stretched out tranquilly and slept. 

The next day, while I was standing on deck, I was 
knocked down by a spar that fell on my head. I bled 
a great deal, but was not seriously hurt. I remember my 
principal concern was lest I should faint, and that I in- 
sisted vehemently that the doctor give me some whisky 
to prevent it. 

The next afternoon I heard a sharp pop on deck, but 
it was not very loud, and I did not pay much attention 
to it. A few minutes later I saw a curious shape on 
deck, with a Union Jack over it, and I found it was a 
gunner's mate, just killed by the accidental discharge 
of a revolver. 

A few days later we got under way, and two days 
afterward we anchored at Shanghai. Our boilers had 
been complaining for a long time, and we knew that 
they had to be repaired; the captain had reported so, 
and this was the reason of our coming. 

About two weeks after reaching Shanghai the sur- 
geon and I took dinner on board an English war-ship. 
When we got back on board the Petrel, the doctor went 
down to his room, and I stayed on deck and talked for a 
while with Fermier. Fermier said that he felt very badly, 
that he did not think he had ever felt so badly before in 
his life. I said that I would go down and call the doctor 
before he turned in, but Fermier objected, and said he 
would be all right in the morning. I soon came to feel, 
however, that Fermier was really ill, and so I went down 
and told the doctor, against Fermier 's protests. 

Supposing that Fermier was only temporarily ill, I 
turned in ; but I can remember now that before I got to 
sleep I became aware of a slight noise in front of my 
door, and opening my eyes, I saw the doctor going by 



290 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

with his left arm around Fermier, who had his head on 
the doctor's shoulder. The next morning Fermier was 
unconscious. The doctor pricked him with a pin, but 
there was no response. The captain then had a signal 
made to the Monocacy for her doctor, who came to the 
Petrel at once. He agreed with our doctor that it was a 
case of apoplexy. Fermier died that evening painlessly. 
Two days after, his body was cremated in Shanghai, and 
all the officers and men in the ship who could went to 
the last services over the body of our dear messmate. 

We had been together, the whole mess, for nearly two 
years, and there had not been any break up to this 
time. We had been through many dangers, and had had 
together many of the strange experiences that are fre- 
quent in the lives of naval men ; so this sudden death of 
the strongest man in the mess was a great grief and 
shock. The grief to us in that little inclosure, which was 
our temporary home, but just as much a home at the 
time as any home is home, was such as no one can under- 
stand who has not had experiences like it. 

Mrs. Fiske and Mrs. Hall joined us in Shanghai, and 
we stayed there about a month. During this time the 
Taotai gave a ball in his palace. All I can remember of 
it is a dazzling lot of uniforms of different kinds, a 
great number of mandarins, and the fact that the Taotai 
changed his costume five times during the evening. 

Not long after this the Scots of Shanghai gave a 
Caledonian ball in the Astor House. My wife and I had 
never been to a Caledonian ball before, and we were much 
interested in the extraordinary dances that the Scots 
performed. The way the Scots danced, men and women, 
showed that they had great vigor and strength. We left 
about half past two; but some time near daylight the 
following morning I was partly wakened from my slum- 
bers in the Astor House by a large chorus of manly voices, 
not altogether in harmony, singing, ''He 's a jolly good 
fellow." We heard afterward that, besides the regular 
supper that occurred about half past twelve, the real 



A GALE OF WIND 291 

Scots had another one about half past three; and that 
about half past five they started out to serenade various 
prominent people of Shanghai. The last serenade came 
off at about eight o 'clock in the morning ; but by this time 
there were only two left of the original party of twenty 
to sing the serenade, if singing it could be called; the 
other eighteen had literally ''fallen by the wayside," 
and been carried home by coolies. 

Our stay at Shanghai was extremely pleasant, and the 
most pleasant part of it all was to see the way we were 
treated by everybody. As Americans we had been used 
to being treated well by Americans, Frenchmen, Italians, 
and people from South America, but we had not been 
used to being treated well by the English or the Ger- 
mans, at least not as equals. Now we recognized a dis- 
tinct change in their attitude toward us and we knew 
why. We knew that many people had expected that the 
Americans would be whipped by the Spaniards, or that, 
if they were not whipped by the Spaniards, the powers 
would see that they were not allowed really to whip the 
Spaniards. And when these people found that we really 
had whipped the Spaniards and had gotten possession of 
Manila and Manila Bay, with every prospect of getting all 
the Philippine Islands and some of the West Indies and 
of becoming a power in the world, their manner toward us 
changed and Consul Goodnow smiled now when he told 
how Prince Henry had said to him that even if the United 
States should get Manila, the powers would not allow 
the United States to keep it. 

We got back to Manila Bay a few days before Christ- 
mas, and had that strange feeling that comes to every- 
body when he returns to a place that has been very 
familiar to him after having received very strong im- 
pression in his absence of other scenes: I mean that 
strange feeling of surprise at finding things so un- 
changed, that strange feeling that he has not been away 
at all. 

But we found that changes were to happen in the little 



292 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

lives of four of us, and they happened in a very few 
days. The captain was detached and sent home, Hughes 
was sent to the monitor Monterey as executive officer, 
Hall to the Concord as chief engineer, and I to the moni- 
tor Monadnock as navigator. 

We had now been in the ship two years, and the only 
break had been Fermier's death. So it was with a tight 
feeling in the throat that I got into the steam launch 
with my uniforms and sword on the afternoon of De- 
cember 31, and shoved off from the little Petrel. 



CHAPTER XX 

OUTBREAK OF THE FILIPINO WAR 

IN the afternoon of the eleventh of January the Olym- 
pia gave a little dance. I went up to Manila and 
brought my wife and daughter down, and we all danced 
to the music of the Olympia's band, under awnings deco- 
rated with flags ; and we could look through the openings 
between the flags and see the merchant ships and war- 
ships of all the nations, and the American flag over 
Manila. 

About five o'clock the admiral's aide, Scott, came to 
me and said that the admiral had just signaled to the 
Monadnock to go in and anchor off Fort San Antonio and 
clear for action, but that she was not to go until after 
dark, because the Filipino insurgents would see her go. 

At six o'clock the ladies started back to Manila in a 
steamer, and we of the Monadnock got into our boat and 
went to the Monadnock. 

We were very quiet at dinner that evening in the 
Monadnock, for we knew that we might be on the verge 
of war. We knew that at the first shot fired between the 
American and the Filipino lines war would begin ; and we 
knew that if war did begin, it would be that most heart- 
rending of all wars, next to civil Avar, a war of subjuga- 
tion. 

About nine o'clock, that evening we picked up the 
Monadnock' s anchor very quietly, and headed in toward 
Fort San Antonio. The night was very dark, and it was 
somewhat difficult to see where we were going, and espe- 
cially to avoid the fish-stakes and nets. Lieutenant-Com- 
mander McCrackin was in command; he stood in the 
bow, and gave his orders in regard to the helm and en- 
gines to me on the bridge. 

293 



294 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The next morning we found that the alarm of the day 
before had been a false alarm, at least for the present. 
But the Monadnock was got into position near Fort San 
Antonio, and cleared for action. 

I received permission to go ashore that afternoon, and 
I went up to Manila. About four o'clock my wife and 
I drove down in a carametta to Fort San Antonio to 
look at the arrangement of the fort and the American and 
Filipino trenches near it. I thought it would be inter- 
esting to both of us, and that even a slight knowledge of 
the intrenchments might be of assistance to me if the 
Monadnock should have to open fire. 

The next day my wife and daughter left in the King 
Sing for a trip through India and Egypt, and I went back 
to the Monadnock. The King Sing went out just before 
evening, and as she got over toward the west, I could 
see her form outlined with intense distinctness against 
the background of a gorgeous tropical sunset. 

For two or three weeks nothing happened to break the 
subdued tension of the situation. People went to and 
fro in Manila, shopkeepers plied their trade, and to a 
casual observer everything looked peaceful except the 
sentries pacing at frequent intervals in the streets, regi- 
ments of soldiers drilling, and the keen, watchful look 
on the face of everybody; for everybody knew that all 
through Manila there w^ere thousands of Filipinos who 
hated us just as much as did the armed Filipinos who 
surrounded the city. 

On the afternoon of February 3, I went up to Manila 
in my capacity as caterer of the wine mess, and went 
out to the beer brewery to get some beer. After doing 
this I went to the Hotel de Oriente to see how some of 
the ladies who were my friends were feeling. I found 
that they were in a state of repressed excitement, but 
seemingly fearless. I was about to leave to go back to 
the Monadnock, when Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Peterson, wives 
of officers, asked me to take dinner with them at the 
hotel. I was very glad to accept, though I knew I should 



OUTBKEAK OF THE FILIPINO WAR 295 

get a wretched dinner ; but our opportunities for feminine 
companionship were few, and had to be seized when they 
came. One of the ladies had a pleasant parlor on the 
corner from which a very good view of the large plaza 
in front of the hotel could be got. So after dinner we 
three sat in this room and enjoyed the sight of the moon- 
light resting softly on the large buildings and the foun- 
tain in the plaza, and the sound of an occasional piano 
or guitar. One of the ladies said: 

''How peaceful everything seems, and yet how peace- 
ful it is n't !" and she pointed down the street. 

There in the dim light could be seen in the distance a 
dark, regular mass of men that swayed slightly from 
side to side with a periodic motion. It was advancing 
toward us. At intervals in the mass were little streaks 
of light that seemed as if reflected from bayonets and 
swords. Then came the muffled cadence of a marching 
step, and a faint, metallic clatter of accoutrements, 
keeping time with the step, as a thousand footfalls struck 
the ground together. Nearer came the American regi- 
ment. The sight and the sound grew clearer. Then the 
regiment passed beneath our window, with the rhythmi- 
cal, echoing foot-beat, unrelieved by music, and the set 
faces, and the grim suggestion of war and all war means. 
Then the sight and the sound died slowly away and the 
quiet place was as it was before. 

The effect on the ladies was at first reassuring, but 
afterward distinctly disquieting. I asked them if they 
felt frightened, and they said, ''No." I told them there 
was nothing to be frightened at, yet I did not feel that 
I was telling the precise truth. One of them said : 

"We 're not frightened exactly, but, then, it isn't al- 
together pleasant. I believe myself that there really is 
danger, but I don't know; everything 's horribly uncer- 
tain. We all know that thousands of Filipinos here 
would like to kill us, and we are entirely unprotected. 
We can't trust even the doors of our room or the 
bolts. Any Filipino could break in any of these 



296 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

doors. All the servants in the hotel are Filipinos, and 
we are entirely alone among al] of them. We 're wait- 
ing every minute for the sound of a rifle, and when it 
comes we '11 know what it means." 

The other lady said: 

*'0h, I don't think there 's any danger at all. The 
Filipinos are afraid of the Americans and they '11 never 
rise against them. They '11 talk and bluster, but they '11 
never really try to fight them." 

''Yes," said the first speaker, ''perhaps their leaders 
wouldn't want them to, but suppose that any Filipino 
along this line of intrenchments gets into a fight with an 
American soldier and fires his musket at him; don't you 
suppose that both lines will be in battle in less than five 
minutes, and do you imagine the thousands of Filipinos 
in Manila are going to do nothing when that happens? 
Now, I don't like to say that I 'm afraid, but sometimes 
I wake in the night and think I hear a noise in the hotel 
and a rifle-shot. I tell you it 's awful." 

I had a feeling, not unpleasant, that these ladies liked 
to have me there; that my uniform gave them a feeling 
of protection, though I knew that I was just as helpless 
as they, for I had not even a penknife as a weapon. I 
said that I thought there was no real danger, at least 
for the present, but that I felt sure that there would 
be danger in time, and that I thought they ought to leave 
Manila as soon as they could. Then we went down to 
the plaza to shake off the nervous feeling that had taken 
possession of us, and enjoyed the beauty and quiet of the 
scene. When I walked back with them to the door 
of the hotel and bade them good night, and the door of 
the hotel closed after them, I felt that they were going 
into danger. 

I got a carriage and drove through the moonlit streets. 
I told the driver to go slowly, for it was an intense pleas- 
ure to watch the moonlight and the shadows on the streets 
and on the buildings and the churches, and to imagine 
to myself the dark plots going on beneath those roofs 



OUTBREAK OF THE FILIPINO WAR 297 

that now looked so very white and peaceful, and then 
imagine what would happen if one rifle-shot rang out. 

I soon got abreast of where the Monadnock lay, to a 
place where there were Filipino boats. But I could not 
find any Filipino boatmen. This gave me an unpleasant 
feeling ; but I walked about, and soon found a sentry. I 
told him my plight, and he called for the corporal of the 
guard. The corporal said: 

'^All right, sir; I '11 find you a couple of men." He 
went away in the darkness, and soon came back with two 
Filipinos, and they took me down to a canoe. On the 
beach the corporal said to me quietly: 

''Are you armed, sir?" 

"No, I haven't a thing." 

**Well, I wouldn't trust these fellows, sir; perhaps 
you 'd better pretend that you are armed." 

The Filipinos motioned me to get into the bow of the 
canoe, but I said, ''No, I '11 sit in the stern," for I had 
no desire to have one of them hit me over the head from 
behind with his paddle. So I sat down in the stern and 
made them sit forward with their backs to me, and I let 
them see that I had my hand behind my right hip, as if 
I had a revolver. 

The Monadnock lay about three quarters of a mile 
from the beach, and I could see her low, black hull and 
her turrets and her military mast grimly outlined against 
the sky. She seemed powerful and awful in the night, 
and when I got on board I took pleasure in fancying that 
I was entering into the welcome protection of some be- 
nignant monster. 

The next day was very dull during daylight, but about 
eight o'clock in the evening, while several of us were 
standing on the bridge trying to get what little air there 
was, watching the lights and the vaguely outlined build- 
ings of the quiet city, suddenly and clearly came the crack 
of that rifle-shot. 

The first sound came from the north, but almost in- 
stantly it encircled the entire city. We looked at one 



298 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

another, and some one said, ''That 's it." Then we 
listened to the rattle of the rifles, and the rattle kept in- 
creasing. Sometimes we conld see flashes not very far 
away. 

We sounded the electric alarm, and went to general 
quarters, and turned on our search-lights. We got up 
ammunition, loaded the guns, and went to our stations 
for battle. We swept the beach with our search-lights 
near Fort San Antonio. But we could see no signs of 
attack there from either side, and no boats; nothing but 
the smooth water and the fish-stakes and the sharp angles 
of the fort. 

We waited in keen and almost silent watchfulness 
for an hour, but nothing happened. The sound of fir- 
ing finally lessened, and then McCrackin decided that 
there was nothing more that we could do just then. So 
most of the men were allowed to turn in, though a large 
armed force was kept on deck. The engines were kept 
ready to move at a moment's notice, and all preparations 
were continued for battle. 

The next day, Sunday, the fifth of February, the fight 
began in earnest all around Manila. The American 
army at once showed the diiference that existed between 
the American idea of fighting and the Spanish idea of 
fighting. I mean that the American army at once pre- 
pared to advance and in all directions. All the troops 
stationed in the southern part of Manila, where the 
Monadnock lay, occupied at once the line of intrench- 
ments that ran from Fort San Antonio east to Block- 
house No. 14, facing the Filipino intrenchments on the 
other side of the little river. 

The duty of the Monadnock was to support Fort San 
Antonio and to shell the ground south of her, over which 
the American troops were to advance. We were within 
musket-range of the insurgents, and we could plainly see 
the white hats that they foolishly wore. In the forenoon 
and the early part of the afternoon they fired a good 
deal at the Monadnock, but only two of our men were 



OUTBREAK OF THE FILIPINO WAR 299 

hit. One of them got a very curious wound. He was 
standing at the forward hatch, facing aft, with his head 
turned down on the left side. A Mauser bullet, coming 
down, entered his right cheek, passed through his jaw on 
the right side, went under his tongue, under his jaw on 
the left side, through his neck, entered his left shoulder 
behind his collar-bone, and finally lodged in the muscles 
behind his shoulder, whence Surgeon Steele extracted it. 

We found some difficulty in the Monadnock in reading 
the army's signals and making sure we were firing right; 
and we feared, of course, firing into our own soldiers. 
So I asked the captain to let me go ashore and see the 
officer in command on the fort, and arrange a system of 
signals by which we would know how to fire. He gave 
me permission, and so I got into a steam launch, and 
had it tow a dinghy toward the beach. I did not steer di- 
rectly toward the fort, because I knew that the right of 
the Filipino line went northeast, parallel to the American 
line beyond Blockhouse No. 14, and that they were firing 
toward the west; so that if T went directly toward the 
fort, I should be in the lino of fire and in unnecessary 
danger of being hit. So T headed somewhat north of 
the fort until the water began to shoal; then I got into 
the dinghy, and pulled in to the beach until the keel 
touched bottom. Then I had two sailors carry me to the 
beach, for I had a new pair of white shoes on. 

The beach was flat for about twenty feet back from 
the water, where it met a line of little sand hills about 
three feet high. I told my two men to lie down and 
wait for me, and then ran down the beach toward the 
fort. Pretty soon I heard bullets singing over my head, 
and then I crouched down and ran along, doubled up, be- 
hind the sand hills. I soon reached the northern wall of 
the fort. I ran along it, and in a few moments more 
ran into the gate. 

I found the fort full of soldiers, with their muskets 
in their hands and their belts on, but sitting or lying 
down. I found the commanding officer near a telegraph 



300 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

instrument. He had just received a report from some- 
where. I do not remember exactly what the report was, 
but I remember that part of it was that "the barefoots 
were running in all directions." This news was given to 
the men in the fort, and they received it very quietly. 

After arranging a simple system of signals with the 
commanding officer about how the Monadnock was to fire 
I went up on the parapet. It was rather exciting there, 
because bullets from Filipino sharp-shooters using 
smokeless powder were coming over fast, and one could 
only hear the singing of the bullets, without seeing any 
smoke; so I stuck my head cautiously over the top of 
the parapet, and there, looking to the east, I could see 
our line of intrenchments running eastward to Blockhouse 
No. 14. Our men were lying down behind them, but 
some of the officers were on horseback. They were just 
preparing to make an advance, and so I stayed there 
awhile, watching them. In a few moments I heard a 
dull, shuffling noise in the fort and looking behind me, I 
saw the men in the fort slowly and gravely falling in. 
I was surprised to see the quietness with which they did 
it. There was no apparent enthusiasm and no bravado, 
but instead a determined calmness. They were all volun- 
teers. Nine tenths of them had never heard a bullet 
whistle before to-day. They were ordered to advance 
toward an enemy, of whom they knew nothing except that 
they were br.ave -and cruel. They did not know how 
many there were, but they knew that there might be a 
very great many. I saw these men march out of the 
fort, and fall in line outside the fort in line with the 
intrenchments. They walked out steadily, with fixed 
faces, some very pale. 

I saw it was time for me to get back to my ship, so 
I ran to my boat, and I was quickly towed to the Monad- 
nock. I had scarcely reached her when the army sig- 
naled that they were ready to advance. Then the Monad- 
nock steamed slowly toward the south, firing her ten- 
inch and her four-inch guns and her various rapid-fire 



OUTBREAK OF THE FILIPINO WAR 301 

guns, ahead of the American advancing line, whose right 
rested on the beach, and was marked by a red flag. By- 
watching this red flag we were able to tell how far the line 
had advanced. 

The land into which the army marched was thickly 
wooded and had been full of insurgents. Before we be- 
gan to fire we could see a long line of straw hats over 
the Filipino intrenchments facing the north, but they 
quickly disappeared after the Monadnock began to fire. 
The light bullets of our soldiers were very ineffective 
against the deep, thick underbrush and the trees ; but the 
five-hundred-pound shell of the Monadnock crashed 
through them, and we heard afterward that most of the 
damage done was done by her guns, and that her ten- 
inch shells did more good in driving the enemy back than 
anything else. Her fire was so effective, in fact, that our 
soldiers found much less resistance than they expected, 
and that night got as far as Pasai. But there was great 
loss of life on both sides. In one spot near Blockhouse 
No. 14 there were found twelve American soldiers killed 
and forty-one wounded. The Monadnock and the 
Charleston took up positions abreast of Pasai as supports, 
and all that night there was much signaling from the 
shore to us and from us to the flag-ship. 

The fire of the Monadnock' s guns that day was ex- 
tremely accurate, and this was due principally to the 
telescope sights with which the guns were fitted. This 
was my first opportunity to observe their usefulness in 
war, and I felt a pride, which I think may be pardoned, 
in seeing my invention work so well — my despised in- 
vention, long condemned by the navy and by naval offi- 
cers, for whose sake I had endured those years of mis- 
understanding that, I hope, none but inventors ever 
know. 

Trouble developed later in understanding the signals 
from the army telling us how to fire. They had now ad- 
vanced to the town of Caloocan, but the distance from 
the Monadnock was so great that the flags could not be 



302 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

seen clearly, and altogether the signaling was not at all 
satisfactory. Captain Russell of the Signal Corps, re- 
cently from West Point, came on board and asked me if 
I could not arrange some plan for signaling between the 
Monadnoch and Caloocan by wireless telegraphy. He 
said that he had plenty of wire and batteries, and that he 
thought probably the Monadnock had some mechanics 
who could make the apparatus, which would be rather 
simple. He said that if I would furnish the knowledge 
and the mechanics, he would furnish the material and 
the men to use the apparatus. We talked over the mat- 
ter for a long while, but finally concluded that neither 
of us had the time to make the necessary experiments. 
I finally suggested to him that I should give him a chart 
which was like the one the ship used, and that both on 
this chart and the ship 's chart I would mark the position 
of the ship and of the church at Caloocan, so that if the 
army at any time wished a shell landed at any point, 
night or day, all he, the signal captain, would have to do, 
would be to measure the distance and direction of that 
point from Caloocan, and signal it from Caloocan to the 
Monadnock. I would then mark that point on our chart, 
and measure its distance and direction from the Monad- 
nock; and then we would simply fire at that point, as it 
was not necessary to see it. I told Russell that I could ar- 
range by means of spirit levels that this could be done by 
night as well as by day, because the Monadnock hardly 
moved in the still water. We submitted this plan to the 
captain of the Monadnock; he approved it, and we used it 
successfully on several occasions afterward. 

A few days after that, while we were lying at about 
the same place, off Malabon, the quartermaster reported 
Admiral Dewey's barge coming that way. The admiral 
came alongside, and all the officers who were on the 
quarter-deck at the time, and there happened to be sev- 
eral, stood at attention and saluted as he came on board. 
He had just received his promotion to the grade of 
admiral, and we stared with wide-open eyes at the four 



OUTBEEAK OF THE FILIPINO WAR 303 

stars and the anchor, which only two men in American 
history had ever worn before. He stepped on to the 
deck, and as we saluted, he returned our salutes with a 
mixture of perfect official precision and good-natured 
ease. He greeted each of us in turn, calling each by 
name, and then remarked that he would like to see the 
firing of the Monadnock from her bridge. At this time 
we were firing by the method I have just spoken of. He 
remained on the bridge two or three hours, watching the 
firing and the signaling, and was kind enough to say that 
he was pleased with the results. 

But he did not like the way the turret moved under its 
hydraulic power. He turned to me and said : 

''Look how that turret jumps, Fiske; we can turn tur- 
rets much better by electricity, can't we?" with a smile, 
knowing that I had been employed for a long time in 
trying to turn turrets by electricity, and that a success- 
ful trial had recently been made in the Brooklyn. 

Admiral Dewey left the ship soon afterward. When 
about to go over the side he faced around, and, with his 
hand at the visor of his cap in military salute, smilingly 
bade us good afternoon, looking each officer in the eyes, 
and making a courteous inclination of the head to each 
as he did so. 

A day or two later a lady told me that she had heard 
there were some Igorrotes confined as prisoners at the 
arsenal, and that she wished she could go and see them 
as well as the other things in the arsenal. So the next 
morning I took her to the arsenal and showed her the 
old Spanish guns and other curious things. Then we 
walked out of the main gate to the parade-ground, which 
we found full of our troops, drilling. Fort San Felipe, 
where the prisoners of war were confined, was on our 
right; and we went in one of its gates, cut through a 
high and thick stone wall. We found ourselves in a very 
large yard, in which were a few of our soldiers stationed 
as sentries and several hundred Filipino prisoners. 
Some of them were dressed in the simple uniform of the 



304 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

Filipino army, a straw hat, a shirt, and a pair of trousers 
of a thin material, with white and blue stripes. But many 
of them were not dressed in uniform, and had on merely 
a shirt and a pair of trousers, the shirt worn outside of 
the trousers, as is the Filipino style. There were many 
women there, who had been allowed to come and see their 
friends, and most of them wore bright skirts and waists, 
but were barefooted, like the men. 

We asked to see the Igorrotes. We had heard of them 
as being very fierce warriors, who wore large head-gear 
and feathers, and who fought ferociously with spears 
and clubs and bows and arrows. The sentry pointed to 
a group of little men, almost naked, and said, ''Those 
are the Igorrotes." They looked stupid, and had no 
head-gear except their own short, black hair, and were 
very commonplace and disappointing in appearance. 
They belonged to a tribe that the Tagals, the dominant 
tribe of the Philippines, had forced to fight with them 
against the Americans. 

The Filipinos in the yard seemed to be in very good 
spirits and very good condition, and to be much inter- 
ested in the cooking going on in several parts of their 
prison; and it occurred to us that perhaps they were 
extremely glad to be in a safe place, and to have plenty 
to eat and no work, instead of marching from place to 
place in the heat and the mud, always in danger, with a 
great deal of drilling to do and very little to eat. 

After satisfying our curiosity about the Filipino 
prisoners and the Igorrotes, my companion and I walked 
to the quarters formerly occupied by the Spanish com- 
mandant of the fort and his family. We found it a very 
comfortable house, situated on a high hill, and a very 
good view could be got from its piazza of Manila Bay 
and city. The house was in a good deal of disorder, and 
on the ground floor I picked up three things. I gave two 
of them to my companion, and I kept the other. One was 
a Spanish prayer-book, another was a pair of ladies' 
stockings that seemed to be new, and the other was a very 
pretty lace handkerchief. 



OUTBREAK OF THE FILIPINO WAR 305 

Looking over on one side from the second story, we saw 
a dark passageway. We went along it, and finally came 
to a flight of stone steps. We went down these, and 
after perhaps fifteen or twenty steps came to an opening 
in the stone wall about the size of an ordinary window, 
and looking through this we saw that it opened into a 
kind of little chapel. The dark stairway descended still 
farther, winding a little, and we went down it. It brought 
us to a plot of ground perhaps about thirty feet square, 
inclosed by very high walls; and in it, near one of the 
walls, was a well that looked very nasty. What this well 
was intended for I have never heard. The ground was 
covered with damp, coarse grass and the place was far 
from being attractive; so we retraced our steps, going 
back up the winding, dark stone steps, inclosed by solid, 
damp walls. 

We felt relieved when we got up into the fresh air 
again, but in a few minutes we started on another tour 
of inspection, and we soon came to a curious stone struc- 
ture that seemed to have no entrance except through a 
hole about two feet square at the top. I looked down this, 
but could see nothing except the space inclosed by the 
wall, the top, and the bottom, which was perhaps twenty 
feet square. The locality was damp and half dark, and 
suggested dungeons and other unpleasant things, so we 
walked out into the fresh air and out on the parade- 
ground. My companion was tired now and a little un- 
nerved, and seeing a beautiful church on the opposite 
side, she suggested that we go in and sit down. The idea 
of resting in the yellow light of ecclesiastical windows 
seemed pleasant, after our contact with a dungeon; and 
so we turned, as many people in all ages have turned, 
to the church. But just as we were about to enter we 
heard running footsteps behind us. In a moment a young 
officer, almost out of breath, overtook us and called out: 

' ' For God 's sake ! don 't go in there ! That 's the small- 
pox hospital ! ' ' 



CHAPTER XXI 

ADVENTURES IN A MONITOR 

THE next morning we got under way for Hong-Kong, 
looking forward with delight to a change of air and 
scenery. We steamed down near the flag-ship, and some 
of us got into a boat and went on board for physical ex- 
amination for promotion. The surgeons got through this 
pretty soon, and about five o'clock the Monadnock 
steamed toward the opening of Manila Bay. 

Although we were very glad to go to Hong-Kong, where 
we should find pleasant things and civilized life, we looked 
forward to the trip with no pleasure. We knew that the 
northeast monsoon, which had made it unpleasant for 
the Petrel, was still blowing, and that beyond the grace- 
ful curves of Corregidor Island and the smooth water 
that surrounded it the ocean was extremely rough. Most 
of us had never been at sea in a monitor, and we did not 
trust monitors very much. The admiral had told Cap- 
tain Nichols that he would send another ship to convoy 
the Monadnock; but the captain was far from being a 
timid man, and he had asked the admiral not to do that, 
but to let the Monadnock go alone. 

I cannot say that any of us were really anxious about 
the result of the trip, but I think we all felt that we 
should be glad when it was over. 

We steamed out of the bay about eight o'clock, and I 
went up on the bridge and stayed there for a while, and 
watched the small waves dash against the side of the 
Monadnock, and then roll gently across the deck in the 
moonlight. It was a very pretty sight, and I stayed there 
a long while, watching the breaking up of the water by 
the massive monitor, that some people said was like a 
raft and other people said was like a flat-iron. 

306 



ADVENTURES IN A MONITOR 307 

The next day the water began to get rough gradually, 
and we knew that we were getting toward the place where 
the large waves were. During the next night the Monad- 
nock began to roll with the quick, regular, pendulum-like 
motion of the monitor, and we knew that the next day 
we should be in a heavy sea. 

The next morning it was raining heavily, and I awoke 
to hear the sound of water falling on the superstructure 
over my head. I could hear it rush down to the port side 
when the ship rolled to port, and then rush down to the 
starboard side when the ship rolled to starboard. I 
looked out of my port-hole and saw, higher than my head, 
the white tops of waves. 

I knew that there was no chance of my getting an ob- 
servation of the sun, because the sky was covered with 
clouds, and so I did not hurry to get on deck ; but finally 
I went up there. Werlich was officer of the deck, and he 
looked so big and handsome in his yellow oilskin suit 
that it was a pleasure to be near him. We stood on the 
weather side of the bridge and watched the waves. The 
wind and the waves were coming from the starboard side 
and a little from forward. The bridge was perhaps 
twenty feet above the hull of the monitor and ten feet 
above the superstructure, and it was supported by a num- 
ber of iron braces. I remember I said to myself as I 
climbed the ladder leading to the bridge that it looked like 
a very flimsy bridge, with those enormous waves behind 
it as a background. 

When the Petrel was out in this same kind of sea, she 
had acted like a little horse in a canter ; and whenever an 
enormous wave seemed about to engulf her, she would 
rise as if jumping over it. But the Monadnock acted 
more like a plow than like a horse. She seemed to poke 
her steel nose down into the water, and she would not 
rise at all. The PetreVs bow was high and buoyant, so 
that the effect of a wave rising under her bow was to lift 
it; but the Monadnock' s bow was only about two feet 
above smooth water, so that when a large wave came, it 



308 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

simply fell on the bow, and pressed it down, instead of 
lifting it up. The sight of this to persons not used to it 
was awful in the real sense of the word — the sight of this 
big steel monster forced along by powerful engines 
through waves that tried to sink it. 

It is the idea of many people that the waves of the 
ocean are simply water that is undulating, and that has 
no forward motion as a mass ; whereas it has real forward 
motion as well as up and down motion. Let any one blow 
on the surface of water in a basin, and he will see that 
not only does the water form in little waves, but the 
water on top is shoved along by the force of his breath. 
Water has weight and mass as well as any other matter 
has, and, when moving, it has momentum and energy; 
so that when it strikes anything, it exerts force against 
it. Now, in the case of waves coming toward a ship, and 
the ship advancing toward them, not only do the ship and 
the waves collide, but, when the bottom of a wave strikes 
a low ship like the Monadnock, the bottom of the wave is 
forced to stop, while the top of the wave keeps on moving 
just as before; and it rushes along the deck with great 
speed and power. 

When the steel turret of the Monadnock received the 
impact of heavy waves at times that morning, it did not 
seem to us that the turret could stand it. But the 
spectacular effect was fine. I do not exaggerate when 
I say that sometimes the waves on the forecastle were 
ten feet high. Right under our eyes we could see the 
circular top of the turret, but the rest of the turret 
was shrouded by thick, white waves of water in violent 
ebullition. 

We were looking down at this spectacle and comment- 
ing to each other on its beauty when Werlich suddenly 
cried, ' * Look out ! " I looked, and saw an enormous wave 
strike the superstructure below the bridge, and then it 
seemed to me to rise into the air. Werlich and I turned 
our backs quickly, and caught hold of the heavy brass 
railing that ran along the after end of the bridge. Just 



ADVENTURES IN A MONITOR 309 

then the Monadnock gave a roll down to port, and at the 
same instant we received a violent blow on the back. 

I felt the railing yield, and I wondered helplessly 
whether I should be thrown down on the hard steel deck 
or down into the sea ; but it was all over in a few seconds, 
and we straightened ourselves up. We saw that the rail- 
ing of the bridge against which we had been pushed had 
been bent. Werlich laughed outright and cried : 

''Isn't this splendid?" 

"No, I don't think it is," I replied. 

All that day we rolled monotonously from side to side. 
In an ordinary ship, in a gale, the motion is uneven : the 
ship will pitch, then roll, and then do both at once ; then 
there will be a jar, and the ship will shake ; then she will 
make a few heavy rolls ; then there will be a lull ; then she 
will do the same things all over again. The motion is 
fantastic, and one finds himself guessing all the time what 
is going to happen. But in the monitor we rolled down 
to starboard, down to port; down to starboard, down to 
port, with the regularity of the pendulum of a clock, and 
it was exasperating beyond words. 

That night, perhaps about nine o'clock, I went up on 
the bridge to see how the forecastle looked at night under 
the waves. I watched the white, restless mass, now shal- 
low, now deep, rush along the deck right at the turret, 
as if it would sweep the turret off the deck. I saw it 
break against the calm mass of steel, then rise high into 
the air. Right under me on the port end of the bridge 
this water would roll off into the sea. I kept looking 
at this until my nerves got into a tingle. Suddenly a 
voice whispered into my ear: 

"Did you ever feel like committing murder?" 

I looked to the right, and saw a man standing close by 
me, with his bright eyes on mine. My whole body felt 
like cold jelly, but I managed to reply: 

"No, I never did." 

' ' Well, I have ; and what 's more, I feel like it now, 
right now." 



310 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

It occurred to me that the man must be insane, and I 
had read that the worst thing to do with an insane man 
is to seem to be afraid of him. So I pulled myself to- 
gether with a violent effort and said : 

* ' Do you feel like killing any one in .particular or do 
you want to kill just anybody?" 

''I don't care who it is; but I 've got to kill some one. 
I must do it; that 's all." 

I saw that I was helpless, for it would be very easy for 
a maniac, as this man seemed to be, to pitch me off the 
bridge into the water, and it was useless to call for help 
in that loud wind. I said : 

"I should n't think there 'd be much fun in that." 

He stared at me, and a crumpled piece of paper 
dropped out of his hand. The bridge where he stood was 
curtained with canvas, so the wind did not blow the paper 
away. It suddenly occurred to me that the quickest way 
to impress this man would be by pretending that I had 
perfect confidence in him. So I leaned down, putting my- 
self frankly at his mercy, picked up the paper, and handed 
it to him, saying : 

''You didn't seem to notice that you dropped this." 

He looked into my eyes for so long a time that I could 
hardly bear it; then he turned his back quickly, and 
walked off. As soon as I saw the way clear, I ran down 
the ladder that led from the bridge, staggered along the 
unsteady deck and down the unsteady ladder to my room, 
and locked the door. That night I slept with my door 
locked. 

We did not get to Hong-Kong until the fifteenth. This 
miserable trip lasted six days. But on the afternoon of 
the fifteenth we steamed in between the mountains that 
line the entrance to Hong-Kong, and the next day we went 
into dry-dock. 

The change from the depressing climate of Manila to 
the healthful climate of Hong-Kong was delightful, and 
so was the change from shooting Filipinos to talking with 
ladies in their pretty robes. 



ADVENTURES IN A MONITOR 311 

One afternoon I walked on the Plantation Road. The 
air was fresh and vivifying, and sent a strange stimula- 
tion through the blood. There was an element in the 
breeze that entered into the lungs and made life sweet to 
live. 

One warm evening I dined at the house of Mr. and 
Mrs. Bolles, high up the mountain-side, and after dinner 
we sat on the piazza; and the soft music, the tropical 
foliage, and the graceful costumes of the ladies imparted 
a dreamy, enervating, luxurious feeling. Then I got 
into my chair, which had one long pole on each side, and 
the chair was picked up by four coolies. I had a long, 
slow, swinging ride down the steep, curving pathway, 
amid trees and shrubbery of all kinds, and I could almost 
feel the moonlight coming do\vn on me through the 
leaves ; while below I could see through the trees and the 
leaves the countless lights of the city and, farther out, 
the lights of ships at anchor in the bay. 

The next afternoon the ship's cook acted strangely, 
but did not seem to be intoxicated. As the surgeon was 
on shore, our chief medical adviser was the apothecary, 
and I had him investigate the case. He reported that 
the man was crazy, and that it would be rather severe to 
put him in irons ; that, in fact, it might make him worse. 
He added that he could give the cook a drug that would 
make him quiet. He gave him the drug, and then I had 
the cook put into the galley, or ship's kitchen, and had 
the doors locked on him, the master-at-arms first taking 
away all such things as knives with which he could harm 
himself. About ten o'clock I was standing alone on the 
after end of the quarter-deck when suddenly I saw rush- 
ing toward me the cook, virtually naked, waving in his 
hand a big iron fork about two feet long that he used for 
handling the meat when he was making soup. He did not 
seem to see me; but he began running about near me, 
brandishing the fork, which was heavy enough to kill a 
man, and executing a kind of clumsy dance. Fortunately, 
the master-at-arms discovered his escape in a few min- 



312 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIEAL 

utes, and he, with several others, came running aft, and 
quickly overpowered him. The cook made a frantic re- 
sistance; but when I ordered the master-at-arms to put 
him in irons and chain him to the deck, he collapsed and 
began to weep. His insanity was cured from that hour. 

The trip back to Manila was as pleasant as the trip to 
Hong-Kong had been unpleasant. The ocean was just 
rough enough to give *'the old flat-iron" an easy motion, 
and to make beautiful effects of torrent and waterfall as 
the white sea rushed along her decks and overboard. 

The next day, after reaching Manila, while I was writ- 
ing to my mother, and telling her that I did not think 
that there would be any more war, the orderly came to 
me and said : 

*'Sir, the captain wishes to see you." 

I went to the cabin, and the captain told me that he had 
just received orders to go down at once to a position off 
the town of Paranaque, about four miles south of where 
we were. He said the admiral had received information 
that the Filipinos who had been driven south by the army 
from their intrenchments in front of Fort San Antonio 
had assembled at Paranaque in number about five thou- 
sand, facing our forces at Pasai, which were much infe- 
rior in numbers. The Monadnock was to go to Para- 
naque and try to drive the insurgents out. The in- 
surgents were said to be armed with the most modern 
rifles, and to have smokeless powder and several field- 
pieces. 

So I was to go into battle again, after writing that I 
was not, and the curious part of it was that the day was 
Sunday, while the battle of the first of May had been on 
Sunday, and so had the battle of the fifth of February. 

We cleared ship for action, and at three o'clock we 
weighed anchor, and steamed slowly south towards Pa- 
ranaque. We looked forward to this adventure with 
much interest, for we did not know what we should meet ; 
but we felt proud that the old Monadnock was still to hold 
her position as the fighting ship. All during the Filipino 



ADVENTURES IN A MONITOR 313 

War she had been the only ship that had done any fighting 
at all. 

We steamed slowly to Paranaque this bright, hot Sun- 
day afternoon, and then stopped abreast of the town, mo- 
tionless. The water was flat, and there was almost no 
breeze. For a while there was not a sound. Several of 
us were on the bridge. The men at the ten-inch guns in 
the turrets, and at the other guns in the fighting-tops and 
on the superstructure, were at their stations, their nerves 
at battle tension; and they were kept waiting, waiting. 
This condition lasted for several minutes, it was very 
trying to the patience. Suddenly there broke out a tre- 
mendous rattle of musketry and the booming of field- 
guns, and we heard the singing of bullets and the whirring 
of heavier projectiles in the air, and the ping, ping, ping, 
as they fell into the water. Instantly, the Monadnock 
struck out with her four ten-inch guns and her four-inch 
guns and all her rapid-firers, and quivered in every part. 
The noise and concussion were tremendous. The bridge 
shook under us as if it would shake to pieces. In ten 
seconds smoke was all around us, and there was not breeze 
enough to carry it away, and while we heard the sound 
of projectiles passing through the air and falling into 
the water, we could see nothing. ' ' Cease firing, ' ' sounded 
the bugle; then ''Commence firing," vdien the smoke had 
cleared away; then, "Cease firing," when the smoke 
thickened, and so on. Finally, I noticed that what breeze 
there was, was coming from aft ; and as most of the guns 
were abaft us, the breeze was blowing the smoke on to 
us; so I suggested to the captain that I go aft on the 
quarter-deck, where I thought there would be but little 
smoke, and send word to him of what was happening. 
He consented, and I ran down the ladder to the deck, then 
down, then along the armor passage below the water, and 
then aft until I reached the ladder that went up to the 
quarter-deck. I went up this ladder, which came through 
an opening in the deck. All around the opening was a 
steel coaming, or wall, about three feet high. I stepped 



314 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO KEAR-ADMIRAL 

out on the quarter-deck and began to look toward 
Paranaque, when suddenly I felt myself pulled down vio- 
lently behind the coaming. The pull was so sudden that 
it brought me to my knees. I was under considerable 
tension, and the sudden shock almost unnerved me; but 
I soon saw I was among several men who were crouching 
for safety in this place, and that the intention toward me 
was friendly, for one of them said: 

''Don't stand out there, sir; it 's no use." 

I got up and stepped outside, but I soon concluded that 
I could see just as well from behind the coaming. So I 
got behind it, and stood there with only my head exposed. 
The whole look of the scene on the shore had changed. 
We had seen a beautiful picture of a bright Sunday aft- 
ernoon in a Spanish town, with its characteristic back- 
ground of a noble church. Now there was not a person 
in sight. Three buildings were on fire, the church had a 
big ugly hole near the bell-tower, our projectiles were 
striking the beach in great numbers, and heavy clouds of 
dust, smoke, and flame were over everything. 

I sent a messenger to the captain to say that the in- 
surgent fire was very light now, and to recommend that 
he stop firing long enough to let the smoke clear away 
thoroughly, so that our gun captains could get a fresh 
start. He did this, and for two hours we fired very de- 
liberately, aiming principally at the intrenchments ; but 
knowing the tendency of soldiers of the Latin race to get 
inside of churches, we fired several ten-inch shots at the 
church. 

It was extraordinary to see how little damage the ten- 
inch shell did, for the church was only sixteen hundred 
yards away, and I saw several ten-inch shells weighing 
five hundred pounds go almost in the front door and ex- 
plode, and several hit the masonry ; yet we could not see, 
when we had finished, that we had done very much dam- 
age to the church. We found afterward that our fire had 
driven the insurgents back from the beach, but we heard 
the most contradictory stories about what loss of life we 



ADVENTURES IN A MONITOR 315 

had inflicted. Some accounts put the loss of life very 
high, and other accounts very low; but the damage done 
to other things than people was certainly very small. 
This gave me another lesson regarding the small effect 
of ship-fire against cities. Our fire had been overwhelm- 
ing against the town, and yet we had done no military 
damage, beyond driving back from the beach a few thou- 
sand men. We had not made them surrender, and we 
had not received any offers of money if we would cease 
bombarding. 

The week following our little battle at Paranaque was 
excessively uncomfortable. The awnings were kept be- 
low, and fires were kept lighted in the furnaces, which 
were under the wardroom. The consequence was that we 
were baked with the heat all the time. If we went out 
on deck, we were smitten with the direct rays of the sun, 
with no breeze ; and if we went into our quarters, we were 
in a temperature of ninety-three day and night. The 
insurgents kept coming back toward the ship in small 
groups, firing at us, and then running away. This was 
extremely annoying, for a man never felt like going out 
on deck, because he knew he might get hit. We fired a 
great deal more than they did, because we fired at a Fili- 
pino whenever we saw one. There seemed to be a field- 
piece about a quarter of a mile north of the church, and 
we fired at this frequently. We could see the insurgents 
gathered around it at intervals, but we could not tell 
whether they were working at the gun or simply strength- 
ening their intrenchmentSo 

One afternoon we saw about a dozen Filipinos working 
there. We got a four-inch gun ready, measured the dis- 
tance by the chart, pointed the gun very carefully by the 
telescope sight, and fired. The instant before the gun 
fired we saw the insurgents plainly ; a moment after, we 
saw a cloud of blue smoke exactly where the insurgents 
had been. The small cloud of smoke showed that the 
shell, which weighed thirty pounds, had exploded, and 
hurled its fragments in all directions. No insurgents 



316 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

were to be seen, and no more were ever seen there after- 
ward. 

The two months from the last of March to the last of 
May were the most uncomfortable I have ever had in my 
life. I spent five months once in the Bering Sea, and 
they were stupid enough; but to be kept in a monitor 
with a temperature of 93 degrees day and night, with 
mail only once in three weeks, and that a month and a 
half old; to be shot at every once in a while, and never 
to know when one would be hit, and never to have any 
amusement or excitement at all, was far from jolly. The 
days were glary, and the nights oppressive. Sleep was 
almost impossible in our rooms, even with electric fans 
blowing on our naked bodies ; and so most of us slept on 
deck. We of the wardroom put our mattresses on the 
quarter-deck, and slept there as best we could. 

One morning Morton and I were taking our regular 
swim when Morton sang out : 

"Sounds to me like a bullet." 

"Me, too," I said. 

We then noticed that a number of bullets were falling 
near us, and so we got out of the water and ran to our 
quarters. We ran past one man, who was struck exactly 
in the knee-joint. The surgeon said the man would never 
have a good leg again. 

All this time the Filipino bumboat women used to come 
on board about half past seven every morning and sell 
fruit to the men. Morton seemed to arouse the liking 
of one of these women, a young and rather pretty woman, 
and when we came out of the water from our morning 
swim, she would offer him an orange or some other fruit, 
but she never offered me anything. 

After two months of miserable life, spent in heat and 
desultory fighting, unrelieved by any pleasure or excite- 
ment, I was delighted to receive orders to join the York- 
town at Ilo-Ilo as first lieutenant. 



CHAPTEE XXII 

ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 

I LEFT Manila about one o'clock on the thirty-first of 
May, in the tiny gun-boat Samar, one of thirteen 
bought from Spain after the war. It was commanded 
by Ensign McFarland. We steamed out of the bay and 
headed toward the south. The afternoon was beautiful, 
and when we got outside, and met the pleasant southern 
breeze, and the gun-boat began to move about a little in 
a graceful way, I cannot tell the feeling of happiness I 
had. At last I was away from the oven in which I had 
been baked for two months; I was going to a new ex- 
perience, I was going to a real ship, not a monitor, and 
I was to be executive officer, the second in command. 

That evening at six o'clock three of us had our dinner 
on the quarter-deck, and I found that I had a natural 
appetite. I found that I felt alive and wanted to do 
things. Then I realized how baked and worn out I had 
become in the Monadnock. I slept delightfully on deck 
that night, and we spent the next morning in steaming 
swiftly through the beautiful straits and bays of the 
Philippines. On one green islet we saw a native leaning 
on his spear, surrounded by his family, just outside the 
door of his little home. He seemed as independent and 
prosperous as any man, and to have on his fertile islet, 
always under a summer sky, everything that a man needs 
to make him happy. 

I found the duties of executive officer quite different 
from those of watch-officer or navigator. As watch-offi- 
cer, one has to do duty for four hours at a time, and then 
is off duty a definite length of time. As navigator one 
has to do duty whenever there is duty to be done, but 

317 



318 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tlie duties of executive officer require a ''continuous per- 
formance." For instance, the first lieutenant sits down 
about one o'clock to do something; and just then the 
surgeon interrupts him with a lot of papers that concern 
the "first luff" very little, but which he must look over 
carefully and initial and send to the captain. The pay- 
master is waiting, and as soon as the surgeon is gone, 
he makes a request that the men of the crew be sent down 
to sign their names, with the officers of their divisions to 
witness their signatures. The first lieutenant begins to 
give the officer of the deck certain directions as to how 
and when to do this, and is half done when the chief engi- 
neer comes to report that coal-passer Smith has given 
out with the heat, and that he needs some one else in his 
place right away. Then the first lieutenant examines the 
''watch, quarter, and station bill" to find a suitable man, 
and the chances are that he gets a man who gives out 
with the heat on the very first watch. Then the captain 
sends out an order that he wants his gig immediately, and 
then changes his mind and orders a steam launch instead. 
Then the chief master-at-arms wants to know if he can 
let the barber shave the prisoners. Then Jolin Jones 
comes and asks if he cannot go ashore to-day on liberty 
instead of to-morrow, because his friend Pat 'Flaherty 
of the Monterey is going ashore to-day, and they want to 
see each other. Then Lieutenant Plunkett of the Petrel 
comes to call, and when he is going. Lieutenant Werlich 
of the Monterey comes to call. Just then the orderly 
reports that the captain is coming alongside. The first 
lieutenant says a few choice words, buttons his collar to 
his undershirt, puts on his blouse and cap, and hurries 
out on the quarter-deck, and runs against the orderly, who 
is coming to say that the captain is only passing the 
ship in his gig. Then two parties of men ask permission 
to visit the Monterey and Monadnock respectively. Then 
the officer of the deck comes and reports that a signal is 
hoisted that he never saw before, and asks what he is to 
do about it. At that instant the captain comes on board 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 319 

suddenly, and the first lieutenant rashes out on deck to 
receive him with his collar buttoned on one side only. 
The captain tells the first lieutenant to have the gun 
taken out of the steam launch at once. When this is half 
done, the first lieutenant receives an order that the cap- 
tain wishes to have the gun left in, because an emergency 
signal is reported from another ship, but made in such an 
unintelligible way that he wishes him to have a signal 
sent back at once, asking what it means. Then the yeo- 
man brings up a lot of papers to sign, and when the first 
lieutenant has just .started in, the captain sends for him 
to find out if a certain gun-boat is at her station near the 
ship. Two minutes afterward he sends for him to ask 
him a question, and five minutes later sends out a letter, 
and says not to forget to send it to the flag-ship to-mor- 
row at ten o'clock in the morning. And so on, and so on 
all that day; also the next day, and the day after that, 
including Sunday. 

The Yorktown went to Manila in the latter part of 
June, and from there went to Hong-Kong, to go into dry- 
dock. I had made many trips to Hong-Kong, and had 
lived there quite a little, so that Hong-Kong had come 
to be the place that my memory held the most vividly. 
Even New York was not so clear to me as Hong-Kong, 
and as the end of my cruise drew near, I was surprised 
at the sentiment I had for it. And when we steamed 
through the grand gateway to that city, and anchored 
in the bay, I said to myself, as I had often said before, 
that Hong-Kong was the most beautiful place in all the 
world. 

But we were soon on our way back to Manila, steaming 
over a quiet sea; and it was delightful to us on deck. 
This time, I was very glad to get away from Hong-Kong. 
In the first place, my regular duties kept me on the move 
as much as I liked in that climate ; and I knew so many 
people in Hong-Kong, and these people had such excel- 
lent stomachs, and could drink so much whisky, that I 
had a hard time. People were continually coming on 



320 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

board that I knew; and the fashion in Hong-Kong is to 
ask each one to have a drink. When I went ashore, the 
conditions were the same, except that I was guest instead 
of host. The consequence was that the task of doing my 
official duties and keeping absolutely sober, combined 
with doing my social duties and drinking with everybody, 
was extremely trying and not a little dangerous. 

From Manila, we went to Sulu, which the Spaniards 
called Jolo. The scene here was bright and cheerful. 
Trim white houses lay at the foot of the bay, and a sub- 
stantial pier, supporting a substantial lighthouse, ran 
out from the town into the bay. A large village was to 
the left of the town as we looked at it; and this village 
was built on piles, so that the houses of the village were 
about six feet above the water. "VVe knew that this must 
be a Moro village. 

The Moros are the inhabitants of the Sulu islands, and 
are quite different from the Tagals of the Philippines, 
though both are in part Malay; and although the Sulu 
Islands are included among the Philippine Islands, they 
are really quite distinct. The Moros never yielded en- 
tirely to the Spaniards, and always gave them trouble. 
They were governed directly by the sultan, who lived in 
his capital not far from Jolo, and was always recognized 
by Spain as sultan, though he paid tribute unto Spain. 
In the early days these Moros, like the Moors of Morocco, 
were pirates, and it took the united action of the powers 
to stop their piracy. 

In Jolo Bay, were many boats with large sails, and 
these sails, instead of being of one color, as sails in most 
other places are, were of many colors ; and the whole pro- 
duced a very attractive and gay effect. The bay, and 
town, and mountains, were beautiful, and the temperature 
was delightful. The Sulu Islands and all the islands in 
their vicinity are much cooler than the islands farther 
north, for some reason that I do not know; and a breeze 
almost always blows among them. 

Some of us went ashore in the evening, and strolled 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 321 

through the town, and we were amazed when, after a very 
short walk, we came to a full stop against a stone wall at 
the other end of the town. The town had the well-built 
houses, the carefully paved streets, the fountains, and the 
shops of a big city; but it was the tiniest town I ever saw. 
It was as if some one had taken a section out of a hand- 
some Spanish city and put a wall around it. 

Our stay at Sulu (Jolo) was very short, and we got 
under way at early daylight on Tuesday morning, and 
steamed to the west, toward the town of Balabac, on the 
Island of Balabac, three hundred and fifty miles away. 
Our trip was delightful, steaming swiftly over the most 
beautiful sea in the world, a summer sea, the Sulu Sea, 
where there is always a breeze, but never a gale. 

The next afternoon about one o'clock we sighted land- 
marks that indicated the entrance to Balabac, and soon 
we saw the lighthouse. Sometime later we could see the 
town, its white houses and red roofs backed by the usual 
luxuriant green vegetation and high hills. When about 
half an hour's distance from the town we went to general 
quarters, and got the guns and ammunition ready, for 
we did not know what w^e should find. We knew that 
there had been a large Spanish garrison there and a fort, 
and also that Balabac had been a naval rendezvous, and 
many vessels used to anchor in its bay. 

We steamed into the harbor, and got pretty close to 
the town and forts; but we did not anchor, for things 
looked strange. We were accustomed to have boats come 
out and meet us, but no boats came. We were accus- 
tomed to see people on the beach looking at us, but we 
saw none. If the Spaniards or the Filipino insurgents, 
or whoever might be there, intended either to resist or to 
welcome us, they were making no apparent sign. The 
situation was astonishing, and it was very perplexing. 
The only thing that seemed clear was that whoever was 
ashore did not care to see us very much. But what were 
we to do? Several suggestions were made and rejected. 
Some one proposed that we fire a shot at the fort to draw 



322 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAE-ADMIRAL 

its fire; but Captain Speriy would not do this, because 
its flag was not displayed. 

Recognizing my opportunity, I asked the captain to let 
me get a company of volunteers, then land, and make a 
reconnoissance. He gave permission, and called for vol- 
unteers. Of course there was no trouble in getting them. 
In fact, I had already picked fifty good men ; for before 
getting near Balabac I had agreed with myself that, if 
anything unusual turned up, I would try to get permis- 
sion to take an armed landing party ashore, and also that 
I would invite Ensign Standley and fifty men to go with 
me. Standley had distinguished himself at Baler, in 
Luzon, by going ashore at night with Gilmore, climbing 
a high tree close to a Filipino insurgent camp, and mak- 
ing a sketch of the country at early daylight : — one of the 
bravest and most officer-like things I had ever heard of. 

Standley was delighted, of course, at the idea of going; 
and so about fifteen minutes after entering the harbor 
we started ashore with two cutters full of men, well 
armed. I directed the cutters toward a point on the 
beach that was clear, and was not on a line with the fort, 
so that I should be able to land ; and, if the fort opened 
fire on us, the Yorktoivn could fire at it without hitting 
us. In the bow of each boat was a squad of eight men, 
and when the boats grated on the sand of the beach, these 
two squads, with Standley in charge of one squad, and 
me in charge of the other, jumped overboard, and ran for- 
ward, in directions previously decided on, as squads of 
skirmishers. The rest of the little force jumped over- 
board after us, and formed in line on the beach in charge 
of a petty officer, whom I told to go to the assistance of 
either squad if he heard a shot. 

I found nothing important in my direction, and I soon 
returned to the main body just about the time that 
Standley did. He also had found nothing except the 
main road of the town, which was not very far away. 
Detaching a few men as scouts, I advanced to the main 
road, and then marched down it toward the town and 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 323 

the fort, my men formed in column of sections. The road 
was good, and soon led us into a town of some size, in 
which were houses of a very good sort. Many of them 
were large and built with an eye to pleasing effect. 

But we saw no living thing. We marched through 
the town with bayonets fixed, and then up to the fort. 
We found the fort absolutely deserted. Feeling sure now 
that the town must be deserted also, I divided my com- 
pany into small squads, and we examined every place. 
I never saw drearier sights. I went myself through 
many of the houses, and there saw evidences of pleasant 
homes, of children and domestic life. There were gar- 
dens about some of the houses, but they now were over- 
grown with weeds, and coarse grass was growing in the 
streets. We could not find a single living creature; no 
man, woman or child, no dog, cat, bird, or chicken. At 
last I saw a toad hopping in the grass. Not long after, 
on going through the weed-grown cemetery, I saw a green 
lizard crawling on a tombstone. The toad and the lizard 
were the only living things there were in all this village, 
which recently had been a little world, as every village is. 
And the silence of the place, and the forsakenness of it, 
and the slimy, thin deposit on the stones, and the oozy, wet 
deadness of everything, made a mental impression that 
none of us will ever forget. 

I remember, too, we saw, and smelt, a well. Some- 
time after we found that, when the war broke out with 
the United States, the Spaniards withdrew most of the 
garrison, and the natives of the region attacked the re- 
mainder, when they were at church, and killed them, 
throwing some of the bodies down this well. After that 
every Filipino that lived in the town abandoned it. 

I went back to the Yorktown with a feeling different 
from any feeling I had ever had before. 

Then the Yorktown turned her nose happily to sea, 
and we went out about sunset; and soon we could only 
dimly see the fort and the lighthouse, and the red roofs 
of the dwellings of the deserted village. 



324 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

The Yorktown headed for Cape Melville, at the ex- 
treme southern end of the Island of Balabac. We went 
there to investigate the condition of affairs at the light- 
house. Cape Melville is at the northern side of the pas- 
sage between the islands of Balabac and Borneo, the 
highway between the China and the Sulu Seas, and it 
was important that its lighthouse should be kept going, 
because the United States wished to do all things to 
encourage trade. We knew that the lighthouse had been 
taken in charge by Americans, and that there had been a 
serious fight there between an American force of men-of- 
warsmen and the Moros of the island; but we did not 
know how the fight had resulted. We had food, ammuni- 
tion, and money for the Americans in case they were still 
there. We anchored near the cape about eleven o'clock 
the following morning, just off the entrance to a little 
bay through which one had to go in order to reach the 
landing-place, whence a path led through a forest to the 
lighthouse. We did not see the sign of any living thing 
except a score or so of monkeys of tremendous size play- 
ing on the beach not far away. 

I asked the captain to let me take an armed force, land, 
and march up to the lighthouse, and he consented. Just 
then the quartermaster reported a canoe coming along 
the little bay, apparently headed toward the ship. The 
canoe approached closer, came through the line of break- 
ers across the bay, and then began to toss violently in 
the heavier sea. Finally it came alongside of the York- 
town, and we were astonished to see that one of its occu- 
pants was Bisset, a lieutenant in the navy. 

Bisset came on board, and said that he had taken charge 
of the lighthouse and had a number of men with him from 
the Manila, and was very glad indeed to see us, because 
his men were getting short of food. He said that the 
natives appeared to be cowed since their fight at the light- 
house about a month before, when the Americans had 
killed some of their friends. 

About half past one I started off with three boatloads 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 325 

of men and provisions, and, guided by Lieutenant Bisset, 
pulled through the gap in the breakers, and in half an 
hour got the boats alongside of a rough sort of pier built 
out from the beach. We had divided our luggage into 
as small boxes as possible, and these we carried on cap- 
stan-bars, each capstan-bar resting on the shoulders of 
two men. It was not easy to get all the provisions ashore 
without wetting them ; but we finally succeeded, and then 
began our curious march. 

I had thirty armed men, and thirty unarmed men who 
carried the luggage. Bisset had said that the Moros were 
not hostile now; but Captain Sperry thought it well to 
be prepared for trouble, because the temptation to get 
possession of our provisions and ammunition by the sim- 
ple process of killing the men carrying them through the 
long, winding path in the jungle might be too strong for 
some enterprising Moro warriors to resist. I put one 
third of the armed force ahead, one third in the middle, 
and one third behind. It was impossible to put any on 
the flanks, because the path was too narrow and the vege- 
tation on each side too dense. 

The distance in a straight line from the landing to the 
lighthouse was only about a mile, but it was a gradual 
ascent, and the path was winding, and some of the bur- 
dens heavy; so it was an hour before we reached the 
rocky plateau on which the lighthouse stands. The path 
lay through a virgin forest more dense and rich and beau- 
tiful than any I had ever seen or dreamed about, and 
filled with lofty trees, and through the openings among 
the trees we saw small spaces of blue sky, and an occa- 
sional bird of plumage we did not know, but beautiful and 
bright, and sometimes we heard the sound of them sing- 
ing in the branches. Sometimes a quick sound to the 
right or the left brought our attention to the alert, but 
in the dense undergrowth we saw nothing. Sometimes 
we thought we heard a rattlesnake, and probably we did ; 
but we saw none. 

Suddenly we emerged from the forest, and then we 



326 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

found ourselves on a bare and rocky plateau. There, 
sharply outlined against the sky, towered the lighthouse 
of Cape Melville. 

We found the lighthouse was surrounded by a high 
wall, made of iron in some parts and of stone in others, 
which inclosed an area of possibly an acre. There were 
several houses in the inclosure, some of which were occu- 
pied at present by our men from the Manila, and some 
by the lighthouse keeper, a half Moro, and his family. 

I ascended the winding iron staircase inside the light- 
house (it was a lighthouse of the first order), and then 
went out on the platform at the top that encircled the 
enormous lantern. My admiration was aroused by the 
beauty of the lantern and the perfection of its scientific 
design and mechanical detail; but as soon as I turned 
my back to it and looked outward, I forgot such trivial 
things; for I was almost appalled by the grandeur of the 
view. Far to the north ran the magnificent slopes of 
Balabac, covered with countless trees ; while to the west 
and the south and the east there was nothing but the blue 
ocean, which looked as smooth as the sky above. The 
sky and the ocean merged into each other so perfectly 
that I could hardly discern the horizon-line. Up in that 
lighthouse, on that high plateau, almost in the sky, I felt 
very much alone ; with nothing but the sky and the clouds 
and the sea for my companions. 

We found all the men from the Manila in good health, 
and in about one hour we began to retrace our steps. On 
reentering the forest, we looked back, and there saw the 
magnificent lighthouse guarding the passage between the 
China and the Sulu seas. 

Our walk back was in a lighter mood than our walk to 
the lighthouse, and we soon took our boats and went back 
to the Yorktown. 

From Cape Melville we went back to Zamboango, and 
thence to Sulu. We started from Sulu on the morning of 
September 9, and convoyed the Buchuan to Siassi. 
Siassi had had a Spanish fort, and now the American 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 327 

army was about to establish an American fort, or post, 
there. The Buchuan landed her troops, and perhaps an 
hour later we saw the American flag rise quickly to- the 
top of the flagstaff. The Yorktown fired twenty-one guns 
in salute, and then steamed back to Sulu. 

At early daylight in the morning of September 21, the 
Yorktown got under way with four army officers on board, 
rounded the western side of Sulu Island, steamed then 
to the eastward, and about ten o'clock anchored off the 
town of Maiambun. The Yorktown could not get closer 
to the shore than about a mile; so the army and navy 
officers went ashore in boats. 

We found that we could not get the boats very near 
the beach, so some of us were carried ashore by sailors, 
some were carried by Moros, and some went in canoes. 
Some of the army officers took off their shoes and socks, 
rolled up their trousers, and waded ashore ; and I remem- 
ber remarking to the captain what beautiful legs Colonel 
Goodale had. 

The town of Maiambun, like most of the Moro towns, 
is built on stilts ; so that the first floors are about six feet 
above the ground. The houses were gaily decked with 
brilliant flags and banners, and the men and women were 
dressed in bright attire. There were several thousand 
people in sight, the men all armed with barongs and 
krises, which are weapons about half-way between a 
meat ax and a sword. We were ceremoniously received, 
and quickly surrounded by a body of horsemen; and I 
must admit that this gave me a little alarm. Here we 
were, ten unarmed men, on shore in a Moro village, and 
the Yorktown a mile at sea ! Most of the horsemen were 
armed with rifles, but some had spears. The procession 
soon started, and we walked in column about a mile with 
our escorts, and finally reached the neighborhood of the 
royal palaces. 

We were first taken to the temporary palace of the sul- 
tana. We found it a large wooden building, the first floor 
raised about ten feet above the ground. We walked up 



328 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

a wooden stairway, and found ourselves in a very large 
room filled with armed soldiers and with women. I did 
not like the look of things at all. I was not afraid that 
the sultana intended us any harm, but I knew that the 
Moros are in part of Malay blood, and that they believe 
that if one of them should kill a Christian, he would be 
sent at once to paradise. 

We were ushered into the presence of the sultana, and 
we saw her, clad in green, coiled like a snake on a table ; 
and, through the interpreter, she bade us welcome, and 
said she loved the Americans, and she knew the Ameri- 
cans loved her, and she knew it because they came so far 
to see her. She said that she loved the Americans as 
much as they loved her, and that she was just about to go 
to see them when she heard they were coming to see her. 
Colonel Goodale replied that the American people had 
heard of her wisdom and goodness, and had sent us to 
pay her a visit of friendship and to make her a little 
present, which he hoped she would accept. And the sul- 
tana, coiled on her table, kept her clear, alert eyes fixed 
upon him. Then she replied that the American people 
were very noble, and that she was sorry that she had so 
poor a home to receive them in, but she hoped that they 
would not judge her great love by the smallness of her 
house. Then Colonel Goodale handed her a bag of five 
hundred dollars, and she smiled, chewed her betel-nut, 
and let the red juice trickle down, and one of her servants 
held the beautiful coral bowl into which the sultana spat. 
And the musicians struck the tom-toms and beat the bells. 
Then the colonel and some of the rest of us said flattering 
things, and she replied glibly to all. Then we went out 
at last into the sunshine, safe thus far. 

The sultana was not, perhaps, so commonplace a woman 
as some others. We were told that she had become the 
wife of the previous sultan after having killed two hus- 
bands ; that she was not his first wife, but that the present 
sultan was her son; that she had put him in succession 
to the throne by the simple process of poisoning his elder 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 329 

brother and sister, who were not her children, and their 
mother; and that she had then poisoned her husband, 
which made her son the Sultan. 

We w^ere now escorted to the palace of the sultan. We 
first came to a high stone wall, in which was a large iron 
gate with two cannon on each side; and as we passed 
through, we were saluted by a company of soldiers, well 
uniformed and armed. The way to the sultan's presence 
was lined with pages, all in European dress. We found 
the sultan in a large, square, plain room, and after being 
presented, we went to an adjoining room, where there was 
a long table covered with a sort of curious-looking lunch. 
There were just enough chairs for us ten officers, the sul- 
tan, the interpreter, and two other Moros of high rank. 
At the sultan's right was a page, on his knees, holding 
a bowl into which the sultan spat the juice of the betel- 
nut. The conversation between the American officers and 
the sultan was stormy ; there was a difference of opinion 
as to how much revenue the sultan should get from Siassi. 
The sultan was just as brutal and coarse in his manner 
and talk as his mother was soft and wheedling. We soon 
noticed that there was a Moro stationed exactly behind 
the chair of each American officer. I do not know of my 
own sight whether there was one behind mine, because I 
did not like to look ; but I saw there was one behind every 
other officer. Each Moro had a barong in his belt, and 
we knew that the practice of a lifetime makes the Moros 
very quick with the barong; so much so, that no Moro 
ever dares to put a hand on his barong unless he intends 
to use it. In the same way, it is said, in some parts of 
the West, in our own country, no man ever dares to put 
his hand near his right hip-pocket, where his revolver 
is supposed to be, unless he intends to use it. 

Our interview lasted two hours ; but at last we all got 
away, and back to the Yorktoivn, and I knew one who 
felt very much better when he got away. And I know 
one who will always carry in his mind a vivid memory 
of gaudy, mounted soldiers with spears, and unmounted 



330 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAE-ADMIRAL' 

soldiers with barongs, and a dense vegetation, and a she- 
devil of a sultana, in green, coiled on a table, spitting the 
red juice of the betel-nut. 

The Yorktoum went back to Jolo, and we found that 
during our absence an incident had occurred that shows 
how a Malay, when once his anger is aroused, loses all 
self-control, and becomes a maniac. A party of about a 
dozen Moros of another tribe came to Jolo and did some 
fishing in the bay. The Jolo tribe protested, and the 
visiting tribe stopped fishing at once and went ashore. 
Up to this time, and for some hours after, all their inter- 
course was friendly; but later in the day something oc- 
curred that aroused anger. Then the Jolo tribe fell upon 
the others and killed them, and literally chopped every 
body to pieces ; they chopped each body into small bits. 

The Yorktown then started to Sandakan, a town on 
the northeast coast of Borneo. Sandakan looked very 
attractive as we steamed past the high bluffs into San- 
dakan Bay, and we soon anchored in front of it, and 
found ourselves in a beautiful harbor surrounded by high 
green hills. The houses were white, with red roofs, and 
an English church showed its spire and cross above the 
trees. 

We found Sandakan a very interesting place. There 
was a fine museum, with many splendid specimens of 
rare animals and birds. There was also an excellent 
club, where the officers could go and play billiards. The 
sailors could go ashore, walk about the magnificent hills, 
and become acquainted with the people; and those who 
wished to get drunk and fight could do so. 

The next evening (Sunday) the governor gave us a 
dinner party at the government house. I think five of us 
went. The government house was reached by a walk of 
perhaps five minutes from the landing, and the latter 
part of the walk was along a winding road of gradual 
ascent, among fine trees. We soon found ourselves in 
front of a large white mansion, and when we neared it, 
we heard four sonorous notes of singular power and 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 331 

sweetness.. Getting nearer, we saw there was a magnifi- 
cent Japanese bell at the foot of the stairway leading to 
the entrance, and a sentry standing by it. We afterward 
learned that it was part of his duty to note the number 
of guests arriving, and strike that number on the bell. 

We went up the stairway, and soon found ourselves 
in a very large room, open on nearly every side, where 
a considerable company was gathered. Most of the men 
were in civilian evening dress, but some were in a simple 
uniform. The ladies were dressed in white, with low 
neck and short sleeves ; and their graceful draperies were 
in delightful harmony with the soft light and the pleasant 
calmness of the night. 

A large company sat down at dinner. The dishes were 
delicious, each wine was at the correct temperature, and 
the servants were such as only people who have lived in 
Asia know anything about. After dinner we had music 
and pleasant talk. It was delightful to be in civilization 
once again, and it came with no little surprise to us to 
find in Borneo as interesting and cultivated people as we 
had ever met. We had always associated Borneo in our 
minds with **the wild man of Borneo." 

We went from Sandakan back to the lighthouse at Cape 
Melville, and from there to Labuan, because Captain 
Sperry wished to telegraph to the admiral at Manila for 
instructions. 

The next evening the governor gave a dinner party at 
the residency. We found him a very interesting man. 
He had some large scars on his face, and we were told 
that a few years before, while at the race-track at Singa- 
pore, he heard the cry, ''Amuck! Amuck!" Instead of 
thinking of himself, as most other people did, he tried 
to save some women and children; and he had just suc- 
ceeded when the Malay, running amuck, rushed at him, 
and cut both sides of his face open. 

On Saturday evening, as I have said, the governor 
gave us a dinner party. On Sunday the ladies of the 
place came on board and took tea with us in the afternoon. 



332 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

In the evening the captain of the Yorktown gave a dinner 
party to the governor's wife, to which I had the good 
fortune to be invited. On Monday Mrs. Buckland gave a 
lawn party at the golf-links, and I had the good luck to 
be asked by Mr. and Mrs. Hardie to go home and take 
dinner with them afterward. Mr. Hardie was a Scotch- 
man, and his wife a beautiful Australian. We had a most 
pleasant dinner. 

A venerable gentleman with a long white beard, a 
Scotchman and intimate friend of Mr. Hardie 's, was of 
the party. While we were waiting for dinner, he said: 

*' Lieutenant, won't you have a peek?" 

"Thank you very much," I said, not knowing what a 
peek was. 

He mixed a drink that proved to be much like gin and 
bitters, with other things in it, and we drank it, and I 
liked it very much. After a short talk he said : 

''Lieutenant, won't you have a peek?" 

''Thank you very much," I said. 

The old gentleman drank his second peek with evident 
relish, but I was afraid to do more than taste mine. 
Soon he said again : 

"Lieutenant, won't you have a peek?" 

I answered hesitatingly that I had had two peeks al- 
ready. 

"That 's so," he replied. "We 'd better have brandy 
and soda." 

Before I could decline, he called a servant and ordered 
two brandies and sodas. The servant was well trained, 
and in a very few minutes he brought in two big tumblers, 
filled with a cold, bubbling liquid that was delicious, 
though a little strong. 

The white-bearded patriarch drank his pint in the way 
in which other people drink soda-water. I was afraid 
to drink mine ; but I was also afraid to violate the sacred 
laws of hospitality, and so I compromised with the devil, 
and drank a little. At dinner the old gentleman drank 
two tumblers of Scotch and soda, besides white wine and 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 333 

red wine and plenty of port. When the rest of us took 
black coffee, he took a large cup of tea, into which the 
hostess poured Scotch whisky instead of hot water; and 
when we had cigars and liqueurs, he showed a liking for 
all, but a partiality to cognac, I looked forward with 
extreme anxiety to the time when he would have to rise 
from the table, and walk into the drawing-room. But he 
got up when the rest of us did, and walked with absolute 
steadiness; and his speech, gait, and gestures were pre- 
cisely as they were before he took his first peek. 

The Labuan idea about the amount of whisky, gin, 
bitters, port wine, and liqueurs that I could drink was so 
far distant from the truth, and yet so firmly fixed in my 
good hosts' minds, that I had to carry on friendly de- 
fensive warfare. I was able, however, at half past nine 
to leave the house in pretty good condition and walk 
down to a boat, escorted by their Malay water-carrier. 
The boat was a canoe, and I held on very tightly and bal- 
anced myself very carefully as I was paddled to the 
Yorktown in the darkness. 

The next day Mr. Hughes was ''at home," and we 
Americans played croquet, with English mallets, very 
badly. Then the English consul, Mr. Keyser, took us 
up to his enormous house, and we stayed until dinner at 
eight o'clock. I took in to dinner a young married 
woman, a bride fresh from school in England. After 
dinner, at half past ten, we were taken to the governor's, 
and there we had a hop which lasted until half past two. 
It was very warm, but we danced, nevertheless. I danced 
every dance, and ladies being somewhat scarce, I danced 
a waltz and two-step with the bridegroom, Mr. Llewyllyn, 
a handsome young Welshman. The next day was com- 
paratively quiet, but the day after a large dinner party 
was given by the Hardies, which was very fine. There 
were fifteen at table, and ten servants, all of them Malays 
or Chinese, who were directed by a ''number one boy," 
who did not wait on the people himself, but directed the 
others. And when I thought of the frail wooden house, 



334 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

resting on stilts above the ground, as all the houses in 
that country do, and then of the elaborate dinner, I said 
to myself that the dinner must have cost more than the 
house did. 

Next day Mrs. West gave a tea party at the golf-links, 
and that night Mr. Keyser gave a lawn party to our 
sailors, where they played billiards and croquet, drank 
beer, sang songs, and gave cheers till they were hoarse. 
Friday the Yorktown gave a hop and reception, and fair 
women and brave men came on board, drank our punch, 
and danced. The native Labuan band was on board, and 
about eight o 'clock they played the ' ' Star-Spangled Ban- 
ner," ''God Save the Queen," "John Brown's Body," 
etc., ending with the inevitable "He 's a Jolly Good 
Fellow." 

We found Mr. Keyser a most interesting man. He 
was a bachelor, and lived in a fine house full of books and 
servants. All his servants were Malays, and included 
several families whom he had brought with him from 
his previous station. Mr. Keyser had a great affection 
for the Malays, and said he always wished to live among 
them, because they are kinder and more faithful than 
any other people. He said, however, that it is necessary 
to understand the Malay, because if a Malay's anger is 
once roused by a sense of injustice or by jealousy, the 
ordinarily indolent, impassive man becomes a maniac, 
and runs amuck, and kills every one he can, friend, 
mother, and foe, with a fury that knows no limit and no 
discrimination. I could not help thinking how closely 
this bore on the whole Philippine question, for the Fili- 
pino is in part Malay. 

Saturday the Allards gave a dinner party, and on Sun- 
day preparations were made to receive his royal high- 
ness, the Rajah of Sarawak, sometimes called the "Rajah 
of Borneo." We were curious to see him, because he 
occupied a most extraordinary position. Years ago he 
was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, when his uncle, the 
great rajah, died, and left him this kingdom by the sea. 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 335 

We salute the rajah with the royal salute of twenty-one 
guns, but the English salute him with only seventeen 
guns, because in some way his domains are under the 
protection of the British Government. His Highness 
did not appear, however, until the next day, and I lost 
my chance of meeting him; for though Consul Keyser 
gave him a dinner, I was on duty. Some others met him 
on shore at the dinner, and they said he looked a little 
like Admiral Dewey, and was a very alert and charming 
man over seventy years of age. 

At seven o'clock the following morning the governor 
and his family came on board, and we sailed for the 
island of Kagayan Sulu, where we arrived in a few 
hours. That afternoon a party went ashore and erected 
a flagstaff. The next forenoon I took ashore a section 
of men, and we formed about the flagstaff. Soon all 
was made ready by signal between the Yorktown and 
the shore. Then a large American flag was hoisted to 
the mast, my little party presented arms, the Yorhtoivn 
fired a salute of twenty-one guns, and Kagayan Sulu 
belonged to the United States. 

The Yorktown went to Jolo for a couple of days, then 
to Zamboango, then to Port Mazinluk, a miserable place 
about twenty miles from Zamboango, where there was 
nothing to see but flat water and land, and some villages 
far away. Datto Mandy, the chief of the principal tribe 
in the vicinity, was friendly to the United States, but 
there was a large force of Moros opposed to him, and 
we went there to give him support. We stayed at this 
wretched place for two weeks with nothing to do or think. 
Our principal interest was in watching the growth and 
unfolding of Thomas Allen. ''Tommy" was the son of 
an Englishman and a Moro woman of Borneo. He was 
twelve years old, and he had been taken by Captain 
Sperry on board as interpreter, because he could speak 
Moro, Spanish, and English. He was as bright as a wed- 
ding-ring, and had been assistant organist in the little 
Episcopal church, and his kinds of tricks were not the 



336 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

kinds that men-of-war 's-men were accustomed to. Then 
he had an interesting appetite. He had a little table by 
himself in the wardroom, where he ate his regular meals 
three times a day. Then we could see him sitting with 
the Chinamen and eating their rice and chicken ; and be- 
sides that, he made friends with a lot of men in the ship, 
and would go to their tables and eat with them. 

General Bates, with his staff and a party of naval men, 
went ashore one evening at Bongao and were entertained 
with a spear-dance by the natives. The Moro warriors 
danced dances that seemed to indicate the rousing of war- 
like passion, beginning slowly and working up gradually 
into what seemed a fierce exaltation; meanwhile, the 
women beat excitedly on bronze bells of different kinds, 
and the fire flames lighted up their features. 

General Bates wished to communicate with the Sultan 
of Palawan, and so we went to his capital, Marangas. 
The whole neighborhood was uncharted, and we were 
quite sure that we should get aground. We finally got 
aground. Then we sent out the anchor that we always 
kept over the stern, backed the engines, and hauled on 
the wire hawser until we got off in about an hour. 

The Sultan of Palawan came on board the next after- 
noon with a large retinue of picturesque warriors to make 
his obeisance to the United States. I do not remember 
much about it except that he put his hand in General 
Bates 's, and General Bates led him about the ship. Gen- 
eral Bates attracted and kept the confidence of everybody 
by the evident sincerity of his character. Some people 
could not understand how a general could be so modest. 

The Yorhtown went to Zamboango about the fifteenth 
of December, and on the thirty-first, in the evening, the 
Iris came in. A boat from the Iris came alongside while 
I was a sitting on the poop. I saw an officer in white 
uniform coming over the side, and I recognized him as 
my classmate Bowser. He said, ''How are you, Jim? 
I 'm your relief." 

I went to bed that night about twelve o 'clock and I said 



ADVENTURES IN THE YORKTOWN 337 

to myself, ''Your cruise is over, and your work is done." 
As I lay in my bunk I recalled the trip of the little Petrel 
across the great Pacific ; then meeting my wife and little 
daughter in Yokohama; then the cruise of the Petrel in 
Korea and northern China, while they went through 
Korea to Seoul, and through China to Pekin, and the 
Great Wall. Then I recalled the Petrel's visit to Shang- 
hai, Ningpo, Fu-chau, Amoy, Swatow and Hong-Kong, 
and the social doings there; then the war preparations 
in Hong-Kong, and the many interesting things that hap- 
pened in the Spanish and the Filipino wars. I reminded 
myself that the captain of the Petrel had reported me 
for ''eminent and conspicuous conduct in battle," and 
that Dewey had included my name in a short list of men 
mentioned by him for "heroic conduct." 

As I went off to sleep, I said to myself, "It 's all over 
now, old fellow; your work is done, and you 're going 
home." Just then I heard the orderly say, "Mr. Fiske, 
the captain wants to see you." I got up and dressed, 
and went into the cabin. The captain said, "I Ve heard 
that a steamer is aground in Caldera Bay; please make 
preparations at once for getting under way and going to 
her assistance." 

I left the YorJdown on the second of January, 1900, 
with orders to go home by the U. S. Transport Solace. 
But on getting to Manila on the tenth, I got permission 
from Admiral Watson to go home by mail-steamer at my 
own expense. 

An extremely disagreeable trip in the Iris got me to 
Hong-Kong, and then I took off my uniform and folded 
it away and put on civilian dress, with a sigh, and yet 
with a heart so light that I never expected it to be so light 
again. 

I left Hong-Kong in the Coptic on the nineteenth, and 
went to Nagasaki, and thence through the beautiful in- 
land sea to Kobe and Yokohama, revisiting the scenes 
of many unforgotten experiences and adventures. 

My trip across the Pacific, where I had all the pleas- 



338 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

ures of seagoing, and none of tlie responsibilities, was 
pure happiness; and I knew that I was going home to 
family and friends and to the rest that I had earned. 
I occupied myself principally in talking with the delight- 
ful company on board, and I remember one evening we 
had a little dance, when the sea was smooth, and the 
moon was shining softly. 

Two days in San Francisco, and then I found myself 
in real civilization on an east-bound express. Five days 
afterward I reached New York, and joined my family, 
then living at the Plaza. That afternoon we drove to 
Columbia University, where Mr. Low was giving a recep- 
tion in the Low Librarj^, just presented by him to the 
university. There I met many friends of many years, 
and they said kind things to me. 

And I sat by my wife under that beautiful dome, and 
watched the fashion and wealth and culture of the most 
delightful city in the world. And I closed my eyes a 
moment, and saw the dim outline of Corregidor and the 
sunrise on Manila Bay and the smoke of the guns of Uie 
Spanish fleet. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

SHORE DUTY, TORPEDOES, SEMAPHORES, TELESCOPE-MOUNTS, 
AND GUN-SIGHTS 

I ARRIVED home on February 22, 1900. Shortly 
after I received orders to assume the duties of in- 
spector of ordnance at the works of the E. W. Bliss 
Company, in Brooklyn. The Bliss Company was en- 
gaged in making torpedoes and projectiles for the navy. 

I assumed my duties at once, and found the work ex- 
ceedingly interesting and instructive. At that time the 
torpedo was not highly regarded by the majority of offi- 
cers in our navy or in any other navy and was kept alive 
by the exertions of an obstinate minority. The chief alle- 
gation against it was, and always had been, that it had 
never accomplished anything in war; and when one re- 
marked that it was hardly developed yet and was a 
weapon of the future rather than of the past, the answer 
came back that it had never accomplished anything in 
war. The situation was the conflict as old as the world 
between men with imagination and men without it. 

At this time, Mr. Frank M. Leavitt, the chief engineer 
of the Bliss Company, was developing his invention of 
the superheater, by means of which he superheated the 
compressed air in the air-flask, and thus increased the 
energy stored in it. He hoped to improve greatly the 
range and speed of automobile torpedoes. His idea was 
evidently so correct scientifically and so valuable prac- 
tically that I did all I could with propriety to help it 
along, and I had the satisfaction before I completed my 
tour of duty of conducting the first test of the superheated 
torpedo. The test was passed successfully, and super- 
heated torpedoes are now used the world over. 

My duties at the Bliss Company were purely of a rou- 

339 



340 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIKAL 

tine character; but I was able to make one suggestion, 
and to have it adopted, which brought forth fruit in the 
future. This suggestion I wrote in an official letter to 
the Bureau of Ordnance; and it was to make a careful 
effort to adapt the turbine to the automobile torpedo. 
The suggestion was adopted, and a series of experiments 
was then carried out under the superintendence of Mr. 
Leavitt, with the authority of the bureau, by which a 
turbine torpedo was eventually developed that was a 
great success. The turbine-driven torpedo gradually 
displaced the reciprocating-engine torpedo in our navy, 
and now I believe all the American torpedoes are tur- 
bine-driven. 

The range required of the first superheated torpedo 
was only fifteen hundred yards, but I became much im- 
pressed during the tests of that torpedo with the possi- 
bility of achieving still longer runs, and by means of a 
more powerful gyroscope of making the torpedo more 
accurate. I was detached and sent to the United States 
battle-ship Massachusetts as executive officer in Febru- 
ary, 1902. Shortly after joining the Massachusetts, I 
wrote a private letter to the Bliss Company, asking if it 
would not be possible to make a torpedo which would 
run for ten thousand yards or even twenty thousand 
yards. I received a polite, but non-committal, answer, 
and I have been told since that my letter caused certain 
officials of the company to suggest that I was becoming 
mentally deranged. As is well known, torpedoes now 
have a range of thirteen thousand yards, and are achiev- 
ing longer and longer ranges with each succeeding year ; 
so that a range of twenty thousand yards is already in 
sight. 

Before I had left New York to join the Petrel, the idea 
had occurred to me of making a whistle, which could be 
operated by the officer of the deck, and give warning to 
men in distant compartments of the ship when the water- 
tight doors were to be closed, so as to obviate the chance 
of men being locked in those compartments in case a 



SHORE DUTY, TORPEDOES; SEMAPHORES 341 

threatened collision necessitated closing those doors. A 
few preliminary experiments that I made on board the 
Brooklyn, then building at Philadelphia, showed the 
practicability of the scheme. The Western Electric Com- 
pany took it up seriously at once ; so that I found on my 
return to New York that all of the new ships were being 
equipped with my '* solenoid warning whistle." The 
solenoid was the electric means that operated it. This 
device was put into all the ships for several years ; but it 
was gradually replaced by a device that was similar, ex- 
cept that the sound made was more like that of an auto- 
mobile-horn. 

Not long after I had left New York to join the Petrel, 
my semaphore system had been established on one mast 
of the U. S. S. New York, flag-ship of the North Atlantic 
Fleet, while a signal system invented by Admiral Bruce 
was installed on the other mast. The two systems were 
tried in competition, and mine was declared to be the bet- 
ter. For a long while my system worked well ; but finally 
some water got into one of the electric solenoids that 
moved the semaphore-arms, and the apparatus refused to 
work. A board of officers declared in favor of the sys- 
tem, but recommended that the semaphore-arms be made 
to work by hand power rather than by electric. Then 
Midshipman Mustin invented an ingenious and effective 
apparatus for hand power, which was installed and 
worked very well. This was the situation when I reached 
home. So I proceeded to devise a hand-worked appa- 
ratus which should be a little more satisfactory than that 
of Mustin, which was a little crude, having been made 
largely on board ship and with insufficient appliances. 
Then I persuaded my good friend Mr. Thayer to attack 
the problem anew, and to rig up a semaphore apparatus 
on a large flagpole on the roof of the Western Electric 
Building on West Street. I had the assistance of one 
of the best mechanics I have ever seen, a Mr. George 
Atwood, who finally became more enthusiastic about the 
semaphore system than I was. 



342 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

When the apparatus was ready, the Western Electric 
Company asked the Navy Department to appoint a board 
to try it. A board was appointed at once, and it made 
a careful series of tests of the system as installed on the 
roof, testing it, in comparison with signal-flags, both for 
rapidity of operation and for the distances and directions 
over which it could be read. The trial lasted three days, 
part of the board being on the roof of the building, and 
the rest on the navy-yard tug, which went to various 
positions up and down the river where good observations 
could be made. The report of the board was wholly fa- 
vorable to the semaphore system, and substantiated my 
claims that the system could make readable signals more 
rapidly than flags could, and also that they could be read 
equally well in all directions; whereas the flag system 
could be read well in only a few directions. The board, 
in conclusion, recommended extended trials at sea on 
board two battle-ships of the fleet; so that those two 
ships could signal to each other. In accordance with 
this recommendation, the system was installed in the 
Kearsarge and Alabama. It was operated by hand 
power. 

During my wife's stay in China and Japan she had 
bought many beautiful tapestries, cabinets, rugs, pieces 
of china, silk, and silver, but she had not bought any until 
she had had the experience of a year's life in China and 
Japan, and felt competent to decide what was good and 
what was mediocre. Most of her purchases were made 
in the early part of 1898, and shipped to New York in a 
sailing-ship from Hong-Kong. After her return to 
Hong-Kong from Manila in February, 1899, she went to 
India, Egypt, and Germany, where our daughter took a 
course in the violin. She reached New York shortly be- 
fore I did, and purchased a house just nearing comple- 
tion at 309 West 106th Street. The goods from China 
and Japan had already arrived, and as she had bought 
some things in India and Egypt, she had a good deal with 
which to equip a house. Certain purchases in New York 



SHORE DUTY, TORPEDOES, SEMAPHORES 343 

were added to those made abroad, so that by the first of 
May we were able to move into a beautiful home. 

Naturally, we started in to entertain our friends, and 
the first thing that happened to us in this beautiful house, 
to which we had looked forward so long, was that we 
both became sick. The doctor said we had been giving 
too many dinner parties, and that we should have to mod- 
erate our pace. 

We gave a housewarming shortly after moving in, and 
many guests did us the honor to help warm the house. 
We had a large punch-bowl on the table in the dining- 
room, and in this punch-bowl we put some punch which we 
had made on the receipt of our old friend. Medical Di- 
rector Bloodgood of the navy. Some of the guests be- 
came just a little hilarious, and declared that the punch, 
while good, was exceedingly strong; but we said no, that 
it was a regular punch and not especially strong. After 
the guests had departed, I chanced to go into the butler's 
pantry, and there I saw forty-eight unopened bottles of 
soda-water that the servants had forgotten to put into 
the punch. 

One afternoon, some years before, during the tests of 
my position-finder at Fort Hamilton, I had looked through 
the big telescope of the Lewis Position-Finder at a mer- 
chant ship coming up the bay, and it occurred to me that 
it would be fine to have large telescopes on board our 
ships with which to read signals, watch the operations of 
an enemy, etc. However, I realized that there would 
have to be some inventing done to make such a thing 
quite possible. The idea did not fade entirely from my 
mind, however, and so one day while I was in the Petrel I 
conceived the idea of pivoting the telescope near the eye, 
instead of in the middle, and of supporting the telescope 
by a counterweight. I made a drawing and description 
of this apparatus and submitted it to the Navy Depart- 
ment, but never received any reply. I made up my mind, 
however, that as soon as I got home I would construct 
an apparatus according to my idea. 



344 FROM MIDSPIIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 




At different times during the cruise I made experi- 
ments with crude apparatus, which showed me that the 
plan was sound and capable of development. So when I 
got home, I had an apparatus made. I found that the 
counterweights caused considerable 
friction and inertia, and so I replaced 
them with a spiral spring. I met 
some unexpected difficulties, but was 
finally able to produce a very practi- 
cal and convenient apparatus. 

I submitted this to the Navy De- 
partment, and received permission to 
put it on board the battle-ship Massa- 

Navai Telescope and chusetts, then at the New York Navy- 
Mount. ' . "^ 
Yard. The captain liked the ma- 
chine as soon as he saw it, and got the navy-yard 
authorities to build a platform for it above the bridge. 
The Navy Department directed that it be given a 
six months' test. I was ordered to the ship myself as 
executive officer shortly after, and when I joined the 
ship, which was with the fleet at Cienfuegos, Cuba, I 
found that it was in continual use and very much liked. 
The next time we were at the navy-yard, the prescribed 
test of six months having been completed, the captain sent 
in a very favorable report. By return mail the captain 
received an order to have it removed from the ship, and 
I received a copy of the order. I then asked the captain 
to let me take it out of the ship, and put it on the wharf, 
so as to obey the order; but to let me take it back again 
on board the ship as my personal property and put it in 
place again. He assented, and the instrument remained 
in the ship till she went out of commission, being bor- 
rowed occasionally by some captain or the admiral for 
some specific purpose. Then it was put ashore in the 
navy-yard store-house. Later, when Lieut. W. S. Sims 
(later Admiral Sims), then director of target prac- 
tice, was developing his target-practice system, he bor- 



SHORE DUTY, TORPEDOES, SEMAPHORES 345 

rowed it for spotting, and kept it for some time, and then 
returned it to the storehouse. 

In 1905 Admiral Baricer, then commander-in-chief of 
the North Atlantic Fleet, wrote me a letter, asking where 
he could get a telescope and mount like mine; and I told 
him 1 would be very glad to loan him mine, which was 
the only one in existence. Admiral Barker answered 
that he did not think that would be right; that he thought 
the Navy Department ought to buy it, and he asked me 
how much I would charge for it. I wrote back that I 
would sell the instrument for five hundred dollars, 
though it had cost me a little more tlian fifteen hundred. 
Then Barker had the instrument bought, and put into his 
flag-ship. 

In the early part of 1907 the Naval Observatory told 
me unofficially that the navy ofTicers there wanted to have 
the instrument introduced into the navy, and said they 
thought the best way was to have a competition insti- 
tuted among instrument-makers, and asked me if I would 
submit my instrument. I told them that T was already 
out of pocket more than a thousand dollars, but that per- 
haps the Wc Tn Electric Company would. I then wrote 
to the compj: , suggesting that they do this under a li- 
cense from me, and they consented. They made a beau- 
tiful instrument, substantially like the one in the Massa- 
chusetts, and when the competition was held, it was the 
winner, with no competitor in the same class. Then the 
Navy Department advertised for bids, specifying my in- 
strument exactly. Several firms bid, all underbidding 
the Western Electric Company, which tbey could easily 
do, as they had no previous expenses to make up and no 
royalty to pay. The Navy l)ef)artment accef)t(;d the low- 
est bid, made by a New York firm. 

So far as I was concerned, therefore, the net result of 
the operation was that I lost a little more than a thou- 
sand, and that the large ships of the navy were supplied 
with an invention whicli I had made and developed and 



346 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

for which I had obtained a broad patent. I intended 
for a long time to sue the infringer ; but I iSgured out that 
the cost of the patent suit and of traveling expenses back 
and forth, and the amount of time required would prob- 
ably be so great as not to make it worth while. 

The joke is on me. Not only did I lose a thousand 
dollars and do a lot of work, but I did not even receive 
any credit, because most of the people in the navy do not 
even know that I invented what is now considered a very 
valuable appliance. I understand that all our large 
ships are now supplied with these instruments, and that 
similar ones are now used abroad. 

My tour of shore duty being completed, I left in the 
early part of February to join the Massachusetts at 
Cienfuegos. I stopped in Washington on the way down, 
and called on Commodore O'Neill, chief of the Bureau of 
Ordnance. O'Neill told me that he had some bad news 
for me ; and when I asked him what it was, he said that 
he was going to withdraw the telescope-sight from the 
service. I asked him why, and he replied that the re- 
ports of the telescope-sight from the ships were so un- 
satisfactory, and the opinion of naval officers regarding it 
was so unfavorable, that although he himself believed in 
the sight, he had decided to give it up. I told him that 
the trouble was not with the sight, but with the flimsy way 
in which it was made, and with the faulty construction 
of the telescopes supplied by the bureau. I told him that 
I had known for a long while that this was so, because 
I had seen the apparatus in the ships; that the bureau 
had never allowed me to have anything to say about the 
construction of the sights, and that the very first sight, 
which I had tried in the Yorhtown, was better than any 
made by the bureau in the twelve years that had fol- 
lowed. Naturally, O'Neill did not agree with me, and I 
left with the discouraging knowledge that a most impor- 
tant invention of mine was on the point of being dis- 
carded; and that if it was discarded, it would probably 
be discarded forever. I found afterward that one of the 



SHORE DUTY, TORPEDOES, SEMAPHORES 347 

officers of the bureau, Lieutenant Strauss, then persuaded 
O'Neill to let the sight live a little longer. 

Shortly after this, Lieutenant W. S. Sims came back 
from a cruise in China, where Captain Sir Percy Scott, 
R. N., had made some unprecedented target practice, 
using some telescope-sights that he had had made him- 
self. Sims came back full of energy and enthusiasm 
about the telescope-sight, and its possibilities with a 
proper system of training. 

Realizing the inertia of the department, and the 
straightforward character of President Roosevelt, Sims 
wrote to him direct, which was a most improper proceed- 
ing from the point of view of officialdom. Mr. Roosevelt 
took up the matter at once and with his accustomed force. 
Backed by this, Sims was able to bring about an actual 
revolution in our methods of target practice, and in the 
matters of the construction of ordnance apparatus as ap- 
plied to naval gunnery. Among other things, he brought 
it about that some strongly constructed telescope-sights 
were made, and that target practice was held with them. 
These trials demonstrated the truth of what T had told 
O'Neill, and brought about almost instantly the rehabili- 
tation of the telescope-sight in the minds of naval men. 

The action of Sims precipitated a crisis for the tele- 
scope-sight, which it passed successfully. After that the 
telescope-sight was taken up at once all over the world. 
Too much credit cannot be given to Sims for this, and 
neither can too much credit be given to President Roose- 
velt, who took his duties as commander-in-chief of the 
army and navy more conscientiously than any other Pres- 
ident except George Washington. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF A BATTLE-SHIP 

I FOUND the duties of executive officer of a battle- 
ship as arduous as they were supposed to be. The 
executive officer of a large ship is on duty all the time, 
and is, virtually speaking, the captain of the inside of 
the ship in all its details of personnel and material. The 
duties are mainly of routine character, but they extend 
from midnight of one night till midnight of the next night, 
and then start in again. As this was the only duty I 
ever had on which I gained in weight, I fancy the duties 
did not seem so serious to me as they did to some others, 
though I found them sufficiently serious, nevertheless. 
Fortunately, I was able to get through v/ith them with- 
out loss of sleep or appetite and without having quarrels, 
and I often thanked my father for having given me a dis- 
position by heredity which did not let me be downcast for 
more than a few minutes at a time. 

The commander-in-chief was Rear-Admiral Higginson. 
We were often disposed to growl at the number and char- 
acter of drills we had and at the sudden changes in rou- 
tine ; yet we realized that it was not altogether his fault, 
because he was simply carrying out the orders of the 
Navy Department. 

As illustrating these sudden changes, I recall one morn- 
ing the following summer, when the fleet was anchored 
near Martha's Vineyard, and the Dolphin, with the secre- 
tary of the navy on board, anchored near us. It was 
Saturday morning, the day for scrubbing decks and 
everything else; but we knew when the Dolphin arrived 
that we should probably have to get under way and go 
through some tactical drills; so all the ships had steam 

348 



EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF A BATTLE-SHIP 349 

up. About nine o'clock, however, we were reassured by 
a signal from the Dolphin that the fleet would not get 
under way that day. So we got hard to work at the 
Saturday job of scrubbing decks. About half past nine 
the captains went on board the Dolphin, and at ten min- 
utes of ten the signal went up from the Dolphin, ''Fleet 
will get under way at ten o'clock" ! In two minutes long 
lines of naked and half-naked men were hoisting boats 
and rigging in davits, getting in gangways, and bringing 
to the chain; and at ten o'clock exactly, when the sig- 
nal was hauled down, the Massachusetts got under way 
with the other battle-ships of the fleet. 

We went from Cienfuegos to Aspinwall, now called 
Colon, which I found much changed and sobered from 
the time of my last visit. Colon was a dull place now; 
in fact, depressing. The warm, moist climate and the 
prevalence of fevers of different kinds were the cause. 
I remember seeing two little boys trying to play one 
afternoon; their intentions were good, but they did not 
have enough energy to play. 

From Colon we went to Culebra, just east of the island 
of San Domingo and west of St. Thomas, a place having 
great natural advantages as a naval base. On the way 
from Cienfuegos to Colon and north again the admiral 
exercised us a great deal at what were called ''fleet tac- 
tics," but which were not really fleet tactics at all, but 
only tactical drills. The ships of the fleets, for instance, 
being in column, one behind the other, the admiral would 
make a signal, "Head of column right." When the sig- 
nal was hauled down, the leading ship would turn to the 
right and be followed in succession by the others. It may 
not seem to a layman that there was any particular rea- 
son for drilling at such a simple manceuver as this, or 
even at some of the other manoeuvers, where the column 
would countermarch or go from column into line abreast 
or change from one formation to another; but anybody 
who has taken part in, or even seen, a tactical drill will 
realize the necessity for a great deal of drill in moving 



350 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

those enormous masses with the precision required and 
as close together as they must be in order to concentrate 
their gun-fire on an enemy. These manoeuvers, however, 
did not constitute fleet tactics any more than similar 
manoeuvers of infantry regiments or companies consti- 
tute infantry tactics. Tactics is the handling of large 
warlike bodies, and carries with it the idea of handling 
them in such a way as to bring them effectively to bear 
against an enemy. A tactical drill is merely a drill in- 
tended to insure the correct carrying into execution of 
some plan of tactics. The tactical drills in which the 
father of Frederick the Great drilled the Prussian Army 
brought the army to such a condition of skill in tactical 
manoeuvers that it became an all-powerful weapon for 
carrying out the tactics of Frederick the Great. 

While we were at Culebra, however, our tactical drills 
were displaced by fleet tactics when the Dolphin arrived 
there, carrying the four-starred flag of Admiral Dewey, 
who came to drill the fleet at fleet tactics, with Rear- 
Admiral Henry C. Taylor as his chief of staff. Fortu- 
nately for the navy, Taylor had been made chief of the 
Bureau of Navigation, and had already formed what 
was a very, very mild kind of general staff by securing 
the establishment of the General Board, with Admiral 
Dewey at its head, and persuading Admiral Dewey to 
take personal charge of the fleet tactics of the Atlantic 
Fleet, first at Culebra and afterward near Narragansett 
Bay. Taylor had also ordered to the tactical drills the 
battle-ships in Europe, under the command of Rear-Ad- 
miral Crowninshield. After the tactical drills were 
ended that winter, a strenuous effort was made to let 
Crowninshield 's ships go back to the comfortable Euro- 
pean cruising that had formerly been carried on; but 
Taylor was strong enough to prevent it. This was a 
more important victory for the navy than many appre- 
ciated then, or than some appreciate even now. It com- 
mitted the navy to the policy of organized effectiveness, 
and set the official seal of disapproval on the idea of di- 



EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF A BATTLE-SHIP 351 

vision of force so firmly that our fleet has ever since been 
kept together, though it has had several very narrow 
escapes from being divided on several occasions when 
political influences have tried to have it divided. 

From Culebra the ships of the fleet went to New York 
for a brief stay at the navy-yard in order to get ready 
for the summer's drills, which were to be held in the 
neighborhood of Narragansett Bay. My recollection of 
the summer that ensued is like the recollection of a merry- 
go-round. I was never so busy before or since, and I 
hope I shall never be so busy again. The little episode 
I just spoke of in the matter of the fleet getting under 
way when the Dolphin arrived was characteristic of 
every day, and almost of every night, that summer. It 
was impossible for anybody to make any plans or to sit 
down and think about anything, because, if he did, he 
would be left behind by the procession. Everybody was 
kept running all the time, and everybody was out of 
breath. My four-arm semaphore on the mainmast of the 
Kearsarge was kept working at frequent intervals dur- 
ing the day, and found to be very valuable for sending 
messages to the ships both when at anchor and when 
under way. 

One of the factors that made the life so strenuous was 
that, in addition to the regular drills and exercises of 
various kinds, the Navy Department had plunged deep 
into a system of education of the enlisted men. The idea 
had been conceived that the better educated a man was, 
the better he would do anything, a principle good, of 
course, as a general principle, but, like all general prin- 
ciples, dangerous to apply thoughtlessly to special cases. 
Many of the more conservative officers in the navy, of 
whom I was one, pointed out that Admiral Luce had gone 
into the subject of the education of the enlisted men dur- 
ing thirty years, and had finally committed the navy to a 
system of training so comprehensive and large that the 
ships and officers and men engaged in training the appren- 
tices had become an unduly large fraction of the whole 



r>52 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

navy; and yet that oven Admiral Luce had never carried 
out, or even })roposed, goin^ to such an extreme as the 
navy was going to then. I^y the plan then being carried 
out, ollicers of divisions in each shij) woukl take their 
men, nuiny of whom coukl hardly read ami write, all over 
the ship, and try to make them understand the theory 
and practice of the wireless telegraph, the theory and 
practice of the steam-engine, the science and the art of 
naval construction, the fabrication of high-power steel 
guns, the laws of explosives, the construction of tor- 
pedoes, etc.; in fact, make them understand the theory 
and practice of all the arts represented in the ship. The 
poor devils could not possibly digest such an enormous 
amount of mental food, and the system was soon aban- 
doned. Lieutenant Sims, with his clear head and conse- 
quent faculty of clear expression, did more than any other 
one man to break it down, pointing out that what the 
Government wanted of every man was simply to do well 
the work which he was engaged to do; just as a base-ball 
club did of the various players on the nine. Sims then 
pointed out that there was not a base-ball team in the 
country that sought to educate its base-ball nine in read- 
ing, writing, and arithmetic or in any of the arts and 
sciences. 

We did not know until afterward that a prime reason 
for Admiral Dewey's being there was that President 
Roosevelt had sent him to take command of the fleet in 
case Germany should refuse to do what she ought to do 
in a certain matter, what President Roosevelt wished her 
to do, and what she eventually did do. 

When we went south in the following autumn we went 
to Culebra, to prepare for fleet target practice, which 
was to be held later at Pensacola, and was intended to 
try out the scheme which Sir Percy Scott had found suc- 
cessful in his ship the Terrible, and which Sims had in- 
duced the Navy Department to take up, the said "induc- 
ing" being what was virtually an order from President 
Roosevelt. In training for this target practice, small 



EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF A BATTLE-SHIP 353 

moving targets were dangled in front of the telescope- 
.siglitH, and moved up and down and sidewise, by appro- 
priate means, so as to simulate moving targets, and to 
offer the same problem for hitting them as was offered 
actually by stationary targets to the gun-pointers on 
board moving ships. For some reason we called this 
jjractice "Morris Tube" practice. I have never been 
able to ascertain who Morris was, and there was no tube 
used in the practice. 

In 1894, when I was in the Han Francisco at Hiuerields, 
I proposed a system identical with this to Captain Wat- 
son, and received his authority to rig it up for trial on 
the port after gun on the quarter-deck. I started to make 
the simple apparatus required, but shortly after that the 
ship was ordered home, and other interests and duties 
took up my time. 

One morning when we were having stationary target 
practice at Culebra and I was standing on the fore-and- 
aft bridge, supervising the target practice, I saw a great 
cloud of white smoke come out of the starboard after 
8-inch turret; then I saw some men fall out of the 
ports in the rear of the turret, followed by some 
others who were on fire, one of whom jumped overboard. 
I sent the ship to fire-quarters immediately, had the 
burned men taken to the ship's hospital, and despatched 
a steam launch to pick up the man who had jumped over- 
board. I realized, of course, that a serious accident had 
taken place. I tried to get into the turret, as did also 
Lieutenant Cole; but the smoke was so dense and suffo- 
cating that we could not get in. It finally cleared away, 
however, and Lieutenant Cole went in. He reported to 
me that there was nobody in the turret. 

We got orders from the admiral to go to San Juan, 
Porto Rico, and land the burned men at the hospital; 
and we started at once. That afternoon, on the way up, 
a curious smell of something burning pervaded the deck, 
and was reported to me by the officer of the deck, I went 
up on the superstructure-deck, where a large number of 



354 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

men were now collected. Soon the smell was traced to a 
large ventilator, the mouth of which was about eight feet 
above the deck, and which went down to a grating about 
twenty-five feet below, on the roof of the fire-room, where 
the furnaces were. I climbed up to the mouth of the ven- 
tilator, but could see nothing ; but there was a light smoke 
and a very disagreeable smell coming up. So I tied a 
rope around my waist and had the men lower me down 
the ventilator. When I got to the bottom, I found some 
smoldering pieces of what looked like oil-cloth. I had 
just begun stamping out the embers when suddenly a 
current of air came from below, which instantly supplied 
enough oxygen to start the blaze and the smoke again. I 
realized that somebody must have started a blower in the 
engine-room, and that I was in great danger. So I pulled 
on the rope, and in a few seconds I was yanked out of the 
ventilator at a bewildering speed, and landed on the deck 
in a very undignified way. A few buckets of water put 
the fire out easily. Wlien I reported the circumstance to 
the captain, his only comment was that I had been "very 
foolish." 

We transferred the burned men to the hospital, where 
several of them died. I remember that the diagnosis of 
the doctors at the hospital was favorable in the case of 
men who suffered a great deal of pain, and unfavorable 
in the case of men who did not. 

As executive officer of the ship, I was in charge of all 
funerals. One forenoon, while the services were being 
conducted over the bodies of two of the men in a large 
inclosure, where I had about two hundred sailors drawn 
up in infantry formation, I was horrified to hear the 
Porto Rican band, which was there to play appropriate 
music, start a waltz. I did not like to interrupt the pro- 
ceedings, thinking it would do more harm than good ; and 
I was glad afterward that I had not, because after a min- 
ute or two I realized that the band was playing ''Nearer, 
My God, to Thee," though too fast. 

We went to Pensacola, and held our target practice 



EXECUTIVE OFFICEE OF A BATTLE-SHIP 355 

there, on target waters just outside of Pensacola Bay, 
where Sims had had a number of his new kind of targets 
anchored. Our preparations for target practice were 
somewhat delayed by the delightful hospitality of the 
people on shore and by their charming efforts to make us 
like Pensacola. In cases such as this it is absolutely 
necessary to adopt one of two courses, either to refrain 
from social distractions altogether or else to go into 
them liberally. I have never known any intermediate 
course to succeed. In our case, we were taken by sur- 
prise. If the admiral had known the scale on which the 
entertainments had been laid out, he might have been 
able to arrange some plan ; but as it was, having accepted 
two or three invitations at the start, he was almost 
obliged to go through the whole program. As a fact, no 
ill result seemed to follow, although the target practice 
was somewhat delayed ; because, when the target practice 
was finally carried out, it was so successful in every way 
as to be the best target practice the navy had ever held, 
and to justify all the claims that Sims has made. It was, 
in fact, the basis of all target practices held by our navy 
since that time. 

An essential part of the new target practice was ''spot- 
ting," a procedure by which officers aloft noted how far 
the projectiles fell short of the target or beyond it, and 
estimated by various means how much the range at which 
those projectiles were fired should be increased or de- 
creased. Sims had learned the method from Captain Sir 
Percy Scott on board the Terrible, in Asia; but of course 
''spotting" was exactly what I had done at the Battle of 
Manila, several years before Scott, when I stationed my- 
self aloft with my stadimeter and "spotted" the Petrel's 
projectiles. 

Realizing that my act at Manila was really epochal, in 
that it initiated a new epoch in naval gunnery, it is inter- 
esting to remember that I had considerable difficulty in 
persuading the captain of the Petrel to let me undertake 
what he considered an unduly hazardous performance, in 



356 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

a position aloft, where, as he smilingly expressed it, the 
"gravimetric density" due to enemy's projectiles would 
be too great. The night before the battle I overheard 
some sailors talking about the project. One of them 
seemed to express the opinion of the party present when 
he said, ''We '11 see old Fiske coming down out of that 
perch like the devil was after him." 

During the latter part of my stay in the Massachusetts 
1 devised what seemed to me a very considerable improve- 
ment over the "Morris Tube," a sighting-machine that 
was really a machine instead of a crude apparatus, and 
so designed that it could be standardized, and identical 
instruments supplied to all ships. It also provided for 
recording on a blank form, reduced to scale, the hits 
made. This gave a mathematically correct means for 
gaging any man's skill, for determining his rate of im- 
provement, and for comparing the skill of men even in 
different ships. I had a crude instrument made on 
board, which I showed to many officers, including Sims. 

After I left the ship, the Western Electric Company 
had an instrument made for me, which, though far from 
perfect, was a distinct step in advance ; and they patented 
the instrument in my name. We did not get any encour- 
agement from the Bureau of Ordnance, however, and I 
took up another line of work that seemed more promising. 

Some time in the winter of 1906-07, Lieutenant M 

said to me that the Bureau of Ordnance had ordered him 
to take up my sighting-machine seriously and make an 
apparatus for trial in service. I was unable afterward 
to hear what progress was made; but in the spring of 
1908 Commander McKean showed me blue prints of 

a ". . . dotter," named after Lieutenant M , which 

was being put in to the ships. I saw that the "dotter" 
was identical with my "sighting-machine," except that 
the best part had been omitted. I protested to the bu- 
reau that this was my invention with the best part left 
out, and that the apparatus, as made, could not possibly 
be good. The bureau suppressed the name of M , 



EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF A BATTLE-SHIP 357 

and not long afterward withdrew the machine from serv- 
ice. Too bad; it was a very good scheme, and could 
easily have been made a splendid machine for training 
gun-pointers. 

Before the target practice was held, my promotion to 
the grade of commander became due. In those days the 
change from lieutenant-commander to commander was 
the greatest change that took place in an officer's career 
' — greater even than the change from captain to rear-ad- 
miral; because it removed an officer altogether from the 
class of subordinate officers, where he had little personal 
responsibility, to the status of ' * command rank. ' ' Natu- 
rally, I was eager to become a commander, to give up my 
very exacting, but subordinate, duties as executive officer, 
and to assume those responsible duties which the ripe 
age of forty-nine seemed to indicate as proper ; but I was 
so intensely interested in the approaching target prac- 
tice that I asked to be kept as executive officer until after 
it had been completed, and to have my examination post- 
poned. 

My request was granted; and I have been glad ever 
since that I was able to take part in the first modern 
target practice our fleet had ever held; and to remember 
also that I had taken part, when in the San Francisco in 
1894, in the first modern target practice that any single 
United States ship had ever held. 

I was detached from the Massachusetts in Boston in 
the early part of May, 1903, and I walked from the 
gangway of the ship to the shore, realizing that I had left 
the life of a subordinate officer behind me forever. 



CHAPTER XXV 

TUKRET RANGE-FINDER, FOUR-ARM SEMAPHORE, PRIZE ESSAY 
AND NAVAL STRATEGY 

SHORTLY after arriving home, I was ordered for ex- 
amination for promotion to the grade of commander. 
My previous examination, for promotion to the grado 
of lieutenant-commander, had been made in Manila four 
years previous, and had been a physical examination 
only, because the phraseology of the act of Congress in- 
creasing the navy, passed a few months after the Battle 
of Manila, was such that no other examination was re- 
quired. On my examination in Manila the doctors laid 
little stress on any abnormal sounds they heard from the 
heart. In fact, one of the doctors said there were no 
abnormal sounds, and that the heart was all right. This 
was a considerable surprise to me, because I had always 
supposed that, if a man had organic heart disease, his 
heart would get progressively worse, wliile mine seemed 
to be getting progressively better since my examination 
for master in 1882. On my examination for commander, 
one of the doctors on the board was one who had been on 
the board also four years before in Manila. This doctor 
insisted that he did hear abnormal sounds from the heart, 
but the other doctors said they did not. So I was passed, 
and not only physically, but professionally, and in other 
ways besides. 

During my cruise in the Massachusetts I had become 
impressed with the idea that the navy was laying too 
much stress on spotting and not enough on range-finding. 
During the latter part of my stay on shore, before I went 
to the Massachusetts, I had had constructed and installed 
on board the Cincinnati an apparatus in which the two ob- 

358 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 359 

serving-stations at the ends of the ship were in little sta- 
tionary turrets, and in which my regular ''Wheatstone- 
bridge" apparatus was supplemented by a very simple 
arrangement of telephones, with a sort of sliding-rule, 
which formed a range-finder system of itself. In other 
words, I installed two separate range-finders in the Cin- 
cinnati, with the idea of finding out which of the two was 
the better. At the same time the Cincinnati received a 
Barr & Stroud Range-finder, which was an optical instru- 
ment needing only one observer, and much simpler than 
mine. "When the report of the Cincinnati came in, after 
several months, it declared in effect that the Barr & 
Stroud Range-finder was so much the best of the three 
that it was the only one worth considering. 

I agreed with this report, and said so to everybody. 
I realized, however, that there were many conditions of 
the atmosphere when my electric range-finder could be 
used, and the other could not ; for the reason that, if the 
atmosphere was misty or the light was poor, observations 
could not be made at all with the Barr & Stroud, because 
the numerous reflections and refractions in it caused great 
loss of light; while my range-finder could be used per- 
fectly well. I determined to hold this in reserve for a 
while, however, and to bring my range-finder forward 
again, after the navy should have come to realize the limi- 
tations of the Barr & Stroud. During the last few years 
many officers have asked me to have my range-finder 
tried again ; but the limitations of being able to work only 
twelve hours a day, and the opposing claims of other 
duties, have blocked the way. 

The adoption of the Barr & Stroud Range-finder, how- 
ever, by our navy, the comparative ease with which a man 
learned to use it, and its accuracy, indicated to me that 
the range-finder should be the basis of our target-prac- 
tice and gunnery-training system, and that spotting 
should be made auxiliary to it. I was able to get very 
few officers to agree with me. It was insisted that the 
range-finder was inaccurate, and instances of inaccurate 



360 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

measurements were cited; and when I answered that 
those inaccurate measurements could largely be pre- 
vented by training men more carefully to use range-find- 
ers, and by making range-finders with a longer base-line, 
I could make no headway whatever. Sims had the navy 
committed to a ''fire-control system" that relied almost 
wholly upon spotting, and the range-finder, while not re- 
jected altogether, was not seriously regarded. 

I had also become impressed some years before with 
the extreme vulnerability of all range-finders on board 
ship, the shortness of the base-line they used, and the 
difficulty of getting good communication between the 
range-finders and the gun-pointers inside the turrets 
whereby the latter could learn the indications of the 
range-finders. While pondering over this matter one 
day, the idea occurred to me that all these troubles could 
be obviated by so combining and constructing a turret 
and a one-observer range-finder that the two would oper- 
ate together, the range-finder being inside the turret, 
with only its two object-glasses exposed, and being turned 
toward the target by the same revolution of the turret 
that brought its guns to bear on the target, the full diame- 
ter of the turret being available as a base-line. 

On June 28, 1900, I applied for a patent on a "com- 
bined range-finder and turret." I did not have any 
serious trouble with the Patent Office, and a broad patent 
was finally issued bearing the date November 20, 1900. 
The first claim of this patent read as follows : 

"The combination with a revolving turret of an optical range 
finder carried thereon and constituting a permanent fixture 
thereof, whereby the range finder will be trained on the target 
by the rotation of the turret ; said range finder comprising a tel- 
escope and two reflectors ; said reflectors being secured at approx- 
imately the opposite ends of a diameter of the turret, which 
diameter thereby constitutes the base line of the finder; and 
means for vertically aligning the rays which come from a dis- 
tant object to said opposite ends of the base line, substantially as 
set forth." 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 361 

In the specification of my patent application I was 
careful to point out that my invention was not restricted 
to using any special kind of range-finder, and I showed 
two -diagrams that illustrated the two principal kinds of 
optical range-finders, in one of which classes the Barr & 
Stroud Range-Finder belonged. 

Shortly after arriving home, I went to Washington to 
suggest to Commodore O'Neill, chief of the Bureau of 
Ordnance, the advisability of taking up the development 
of my turret range-finder. I showed him my patent, 
pointed out the advantages that my scheme seemed to 
offer, suggested that he have me put on the duty of de- 
veloping it into a practical instrument, and added that 
I was perfectly willing to make a present of my patent 
to the bureau. To my great surprise, O'Neill would not 
consider the scheme seriously. He said a range-finder 
was too delicate a thing to stand being mounted on a 
turret, because the concussion of the guns would disable 
it, or at least throw it out of adjustment. Arguments 
were of no avail. 'Neill would have nothing whatever 
to do with a project that in his opinion he frankly de- 
clared to be wholly impracticable. He would not even 
ask the department to let me stay on "waiting orders" 
for a while in order to develop it at my own expense. 

On my way back to New York I determined to develop 
it myself, or at least start to do so, and to seize whatever 
opportunities I might get later. Hardly had I started, 
when I got orders to attend the summer course at the 
war college, I succeeded in getting two weeks' delay, 
and in this time I completed my design and got the West- 
ern Electric Company to start some mechanics on mak- 
ing the instrument. The instrument was completed in 
the autumn, and I received the permission of the Bureau 
of Ordnance to secure it in position on top of a turret in 
the battle-ship Maine (the second Maine), and to have its 
ability to withstand the concussion of gun-fire tested at 
the next target practice. 

When the annual class of the war college was formed 



362 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAE-ADMIRAL 

in the summer of 1903, I was one of the members of the 
class. The president of the college then was Captain 
F. E. Chadwick, who had been Sampson's chief of staff 
during the Spanish War. 

One forenoon during the course Admiral Luce made 
an informal address that gave me the first clear idea I 
had ever had about war and the way it is carried on. 
Before hearing Luce talk that bright summer morning, 
I had had a vague idea that a war was merely a situation 
in which great numbers of men or of ships fought one 
another. I had had no clear idea connected with war ex- 
cept that of fighting. 

After the brief, but vividly illuminating, talk of Luce 
I realized that a war is a contest, and that figliting is 
merely a means of deciding the contest. I realized that, 
in every war, there is a conflict not only of purposes, but 
also of ideas, and that this conflict of ideas is not only in 
the causes of the war, but also in the way in which the 
contestants on each side wage the contest. I saw that 
in every war each side tries to effect some purpose, and 
that it merely uses fighting to effect the purpose. I saw 
that the side which understands its purpose the most 
clearly, which selects the best way of accomplishing its 
purpose, and which has the best machine ready when war 
breaks out, must win. I saw that war differs from all 
the other activities of men in one way only, in being the 
most important activity; and that the same qualities of 
foresight, preparation, and energy which affect success 
in all other activities affect success in war. 

I have never forgotten that brief address of Admiral 
Luce and the illumination which it brought, and I shall 
never forget that Admiral Luce then said that he him- 
self had always supposed that war was merely a matter 
of fighting until he happened to have a conversation with 
General Sherman not long before Sherman took Atlanta, 
in which Sherman told him what he was going to do. 
Luce said he suddenly realized that war was a matter of 
brains; that Sherman was simply carrying out a plan 



WAR COLLEGE 363 

which he had previously conceived in his mind, and that 
fighting is merely the instrument for carrying out one's 
thought in war, just as the pen is an instrument for re- 
cording one's thought on paper. 

The course at the war college that sununer of 1903 was 
much like my previous course there in 1896. The war 
college had become somewhat more firmly established, 
however, and it now lived in a handsome granite man- 
sion, instead of in a ''poor house." The fact that Ad- 
miral, then Captain, Mahan had been put on the strategy 
board in Washington during the Spanish War, and that 
many of the calculations which the war college had made 
in the matter of transportation of supplies and the use 
of supply vessels and scouts, had been found valuable by 
the Navy Department, had made the war college much 
more respected by most naval officers than it had been 
before. Nevertheless, the summer at the war college was 
looked on largely as a vacation, and no one injured his 
health by too much hard work. We had tactical games 
and strategic games of interesting kinds ; but the games 
were regarded more lightly than they are regarded now. 

When the summer course was over, I was ordered to 
duty as inspector of ordnance at Cramp's shipyard in 
Philadelphia. I was not overjoyed with these orders, 
because I was tied to a house in New York ; but I realized 
that the orders were perfectly proper, and so I reported 
for duty at Cramp's shipyard in a few days. 

Many officers have been on duty as inspectors at 
Cramp's shipyard. Most of them have not liked the 
duty very much, so far as the duty itself was concerned ; 
for it has meant dirty hands and face, oil on the clothes, 
climbing about ships under construction, and many dis- 
agreeable things of that kind. But they have realized 
that such duty gives an officer a more exact idea of engi- 
neering and ordnance apparatus as it actually is in ships 
than any other duty does, and many officers have be- 
lieved that no officer's education is quite complete unless 
he has had one year at least of some such duty. 



364 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

A man gets a good deal of exercise on inspection duty. 
One usually associates arduous exercise with a thin man, 
but I recollect one man with some name like Murphy, the 
foreman of a large gang of men who ran electric wires 
in the ships then building, who was enormously fat. This 
poor fellow had to climb up and down ladders, go on his 
hands and knees along rough decks in narrow passages, 
and do a good deal of walking about the shipyard, some- 
times in very hot weather. He was bewailing his fate to 
me one day, saying that it was ten times as hard for him 
to do that kind of work as it would be for me. I said to 
him: 

*'Well, there 's one good thing about it, it gives you 
plenty of exercise, and your weight shows that it gives 
you a good digestion." 

''Oh, Mr. Fiske," he answered, ''the way I have dys- 
pepsia is something awful!" 

My tour of duty at Cramp's shipyard lasted until Oc- 
tober, 1905, a little more than two years. The duty was 
purely of a routine character, and, as I was fairly versed 
in ordnance, and in mechanical appliances in general, and 
had excellent assistants, I was able to go to New York 
frequently and work on the optical "turret range- 
finder," which I had patented on November 20, 1900, and 
which I was having made at my own expense by the 
Western Electric Company. 

This range-finder was completed and secured on the 
after turret of the U. S. S. Maine in the latter part of 
1903. That winter the fleet went to Pensacola for target 
practice, as it had done the winter before. After it ar- 
rived there, I went to Pensacola from New York, and 
was kindly given a vacant room on board the Maine. My 
room was on the starboard side of a narrow passage on 
the port side of the upper deck. Across the passage, 
which was about four feet wide, was the room of the 
chief engineer of the ship, an excellent man named War- 
burton, who had been graduated from the Naval Acad- 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 365 

emy as a cadet engineer the year after I graduated as a 
midshipman. 

A few mornings after I had joined the Maine, just as 
I had completed my toilet and was about to leave my 
room, I heard what sounded like a pistol-shot. I did 
not attach much importance to it, and stepped out in the 
passageway outside of my door. I saw the executive 
officer, Lieutenant-Commander T. S. Rodgers, standing 
there, with a very grave look on his face. 

"Did you hear that pistol-shot?" he inquired. 

"I heard something," I answered, ''that sounded like 
a pistol-shot." Rodgers put his hand on the door-knob 
of Warburton's room and hesitated a moment. Then 
we saw a little stream of blood coming out from under 
Warburton's door, and Rodgers pulled the door open. 
There on the floor of his room we saw Warburton lying 
dead, with a small revolver in his hand. I have never 
heard any explanation for his act, or that anybody had 
previously noticed anything peculiar in Warburton's 
manner or appearance. 

I stayed at Pensacola about ten days, during which 
time the Maine took part with the fleet in the regular tar- 
get practice. Many officers had told me that it was 
foolish to expect that so delicate an instrument as a range- 
finder, placed on a turret, could withstand the tremendous 
concussion produced by the firing of the guns. One of 
the purposes of my trip to Pensacola was to ascertain 
whether or not it could do so. This range-finder was se- 
cured in position on top of the turret with a wooden cover 
over it ; because this was the only way in which the range- 
finder could be secured to the turret without cutting holes 
in the sides of the turret; and, of course, it would have 
been foolish to cut holes in the sides of the turret before 
it was known that the range-finder could stand the con- 
cussion. Naturally, I did not enjoy the prospect of being 
on the top of the turret with my range-finder when the 
first gun was fired. But I found, to my joy, that the 



366 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

shock of discharge was not very distressing, and that it 
did not harm the range-finder at all. I found, however, 
that the range-finder was not sufficiently accurate, and 
that I should have to throw away most of the instrument 
and make another one. Fortunately, I had already de- 
signed one on another optical principle, which I knew 
would insure the needed accuracy, though it would entail 
greater liability to derangement. 

Not long after this my office in Philadelphia was ex- 
tended so as to take charge of the ordnance work then 
being done by the New York Shipbuilding Company, 
in Camden, across the river. So I applied for an- 
other stenographer, and another one shortly appeared. 
He came in one morning, and introduced himself as Mr. 
'Flaherty. He was one of the most unimpressive men 
I had ever seen, and a marked contrast to the handsome 
and dignified gentleman whom he was to assist. He was 
altogether so unprepossessing in appearance that I 
thought somebody must have been playing a joke on me, 
and so I asked him to sit down, not knowing what else 
to say. Mr. 'Flaherty sat in the office for about two 
hours, during which time I hoped nobody would come into 
the office and see him there. Finally, Mr. Thompson left 
his seat at the typewriter for a moment, leaving a half- 
written page that he had been slowly and carefully typing. 
Hardly was he out of his chair, when Mr. 'Flaherty 
slipped into it, and began to hammer the keys like a 
Paderewski. In two months Mr. 'Flaherty was run- 
ning the whole office so far as its interior management 
was concerned. 

The four-arm semaphore system, worked by hand 
power, was installed in a number of the battle-ships by 
this time, and working very well; but the department 
finally concluded that the navy had now arrived at such 
a state of development, and had so many skilled electri- 
cians on board the ships and such complete installations 
of electrical appliances and workshops, that it would be 
better to return to the electrical method. So four electric 



FOUR-ARM SEMAPHORE 367 

semaphore apparatus were made, and installed on the 
Connecticut, Kearsarge, Alabama, and Kentucky. By 
this plan it was practicable to signal thirty-two letters a 
minute, which could be read in all directions for six sea 
miles in ordinary weather. 

Just after they had all been installed and got ready, 
and the fleet was going south, the Flag-ship Connecticut 
went under the Brooklyn Bridge. It had been necessary, 
of course, to lower the mast a few feet in order to go 
under the bridge ; but it had not been necessary to lower 
the main-topmast so far as to interfere with the sema- 
phore arms. After the Connecticut had passed under 
the bridge, the mast was raised again into position ; and 
just as the final pull was being given to get it into place, 
the mast-rope carried away, and down came the topmast, 
shaving the semaphore-arms off the mast ! 

The ship was bound for the West Indies, where the 
damage could not be rectified, and the result of the acci- 
dent was that all the West India cruise, to which I had 
looked forward so eagerly for demonstrating the value 
of the four-arm semaphore, was entirely lost. Just then 
the wireless telegraph became established in full favor, 
and this fact, combined with the disablement of the Con- 
necticut's semaphores, and also the fact that I had to go 
to sea soon and devote myself to other matters, was a 
death-blow to the electric four-arm semaphore. Never- 
theless, that system is a better system for signaling over 
the usual distances over which visual signals are sent 
than any now used in the navy, except of course, the wire- 
less telegraph, or telephone. But these are so superior 
to all other agencies that they are rapidly becoming the 
principal means of communication. 

The work of changing my turret range-finder was con- 
siderable, because the optical design of the new one was 
entirely different from that of the old one. All the cal- 
culations had to be made anew, and trials had to be held 
for determining if the instrument was theoretically cor- 
rect and if it was probably practical. Everything was 



368 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

ready by the spring of 1905, and I received permission 
from the Bureau of Ordnance to have it put back on the 
after turret of the Maine. I also received permission to 
be present at the test, but for some reason I was not noti- 
fied when the tests took place. 

When the report of the test finally came in, it stated 
that the concussion of the gun had jarred the range- 
finder out of adjustment, so that its indications ceased to 
be correct. The instrument, however, was not injured. 

In forwarding the report of the board, Admiral Evans 
wrote concerning it : 

''From these reports it would seem that this type of range 
finder has been given a fair and exhaustive test, and has proved 
that it is not satisfactory for use on board ship as intended by 
the inventor ; that is, mounted on top of or in connection with a 
heavy turret. The jar of the guns, the lack of fine and easy 
control of the turret (to which the range finder is rigidly con- 
nected as regards train) and the interference of hot gases and 
smoke, make the location intended for a mounting of this range 
finder a very poor one. ... In view of the results obtained, I re- 
spectfully recommend that this range finder be removed from 
the Maine while the ship is now in New York. ' ' 

I had the instrument removed immediately from the 
Maine and taken to the works of the Western Electric 
Company, where I had those parts strengthened which 
had been found to be weak. On December 12, 1905, I 
wrote the bureau requesting permission to put it back for 
further tests, stating that ''I have strengthened in every 
way I can think of the turret range-finder that was tested 
in the Maine." The last sentence in my letter read, ' ' One 
series of ten observations on an object 6580 yards dis- 
tant had an average error of only 51 14 yards at that dis- 
tance." This was great accuracy in those days. 

The bureau referred my request to Admiral Evans for 
his reconomendation, and Admiral Evans wrote to the 
bureau, ''I do not deem that further test of this range 
finder is advisable." Then the bureau wrote to me, ''In 
view of the statement contained in a preceding endorse- 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 369 

ment [Admiral Evans' recommendation] the Bureau will 
not recommend further tests of this range finder." 

I wrote back to the bureau that there seemed to be a 
misunderstanding to the effect that the range-finder I 
then wished to submit was the same as the one previ- 
ously tried, whereas I had spent five hundred dollars in 
making changes, and asking for a reconsideration. The 
reconsideration was not accorded me. 

On May 3, 1906, while I was in command of the Minne- 
apolis, I wrote another letter to the bureau, pointing out 
that, in view of the increased accuracy of guns, increased 
uniformity of powder, and the increase in accuracy of 
gunnery in all navies, it would soon become vitally neces- 
sary to have range-finders of longer base than those at 
present used, and to have them and their observers in 
protected positions. In view of these facts, I again re- 
quested permission to have my turret range-finder in- 
stalled on the after turret of the Maine. In reply the 
Bureau of Ordnance wrote : 

"As the Commander in Chief of the U. S. Atlantic Fleet has 
already given this device a trial aboard the U. S. F. S. Maine, 
has submitted an adverse report on it, and has recommended that 
no further tests be made, the Bureau must decline to take further 
action in the matter. 

(Signed) ''N. E. Mason, 
"Chief of Bureau of Ordnance." 

On May 11, 1906, I wrote back to the bureau, saying 
that I had explained unofficially to Admiral Evans the 
changes I had made in the range-finder, and that he had 
told me that, if the improved range-finder were put into 
the Maine when she returned to New York in the fol- 
lowing spring, he would be glad to give it a fair and 
rigid trial. 

The bureau submitted my letter to Admiral Evans, and 
he replied again unfavorably. The last paragraph of his 
indorsement on the letter of the Bureau of Ordnance em- 
bodied the gist of his objections. It read as follows: 



370 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

*'The location of a range-finder in a turret is very poor 
for many obvious reasons. Unless the other qualities of 
this range-finder are such as to outweigh these disadvan- 
tages, it is not recommended for further experiment with 
such a range-finder." 

The bureau then wrote me: 

"The Bureau is not prepared to make a further test 
of the turret range-finder." 

I saw that it was useless to **kick against the pricks," 
and so I decided to wait until some favorable opportunity 
should present itself. 



Ever since the talk of Admiral Luce at the war college 
in the summer of 1903 a thought had kept coming to me 
continually, that there was a lack in the navy, and espe- 
cially in the management of the navy, of that comprehen- 
sion of the actual nature of war which Luce said he had 
received from Sherman, and which Luce had tried to 
impart to us. It seemed to me that the navy was con- 
cerned wholly with the material guns and ships and men, 
and devoting very little thought to the methods by which 
the guns and ships should be operated, or even to the 
strategic principles which should govern their construc- 
tion. I realized more clearly the truth of the lessons 
which Captain Taylor had been trying to teach us, and 
which Mahan had been trying to teach the world in his 
''Influence of Sea Power on History." From their 
point of view, the navy consisted of many agencies, such 
as the various bureaus, men, ships, and guns, but without 
any head which could give them direction for the purposes 
of war except the secretary of the navy. Of course there 
was a secretary of the navy, and the work of giving these 
activities direction devolved upon him. But he was a 
civilian untrained in war, and without any guide except 
his own mental abilities, to enable him to direct these 
agencies toward a given object or to decide what the 
object ought to be. 



PRIZE ESSAY 371 

Naturally, it was clear that the secretary could direct 
all those agencies by simply telling each agency what to 
do, just as a child can move the pieces on a chess-board. 
It was also clear that the secretary could direct all those 
agencies toward any objective that he wished, just as a 
child could point a pistol in any direction he wished. 
I remembered what the old sailor had said to me in 1873, 
that it was easy to be a naval officer, but hard to be a 
good one, and this made me see that it must be easy for 
a man to be secretary of the navy, but actually impossible 
for a man to be a really efficient secretary of the navy if 
called upon to prepare a navy for war or to operate a 
navy in war against a navy directed by a skilful strate- 
gist unless he were a skilful strategist himself. I began 
to see that the question of success in war depends on 
skill in preparing for war and in conducting it, and that 
the most important thing in any navy is the same as the 
most important thing in any man — the head. These 
ideas got such hold on me that they had to come out, and 
they finally resulted in an essay called ''American Naval 
Policy," which I submitted to the United States Institute 
in December, 1904. 

This essay was pessimistic in the last degree, and found 
fault with nearly everything in the navy, and praised al- 
most nothing; but it was constructive and not destruc- 
tive, because it proposed a remedy. The remedy, of 
course, was a general staff, which should study con- 
tinually the situations which the navy might have to 
meet, and which should devise measures by which the 
navy could meet them successfully. 

Rear- Admiral Henry C. Taylor had been made chief of 
the Bureau of Navigation after being president of the 
w^ar college, and had been successful in a moderate way 
in making the navy see the light, and had got the Gen- 
eral Board established and a concentrated fleet formed 
in the North Atlantic. But Taylor had died about a year 
before, and left the navy without a leader. My essay 



372 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

was an effort to set forth what I knew to be substantially 
his views. 

When the Naval Institute announced the outcome of 
the annual contest for the prize essay, it announced that 
my essay had received the first prize, which was two 
hundred dollars and a gold medal, and that Admiral Luce 
had received the second prize. When these two essays 
came to be read afterward, it was seen that, although the 
title of my essay was "American Naval Policy," and the 
title of his essay was ''Naval Administration," they 
preached the same doctrine and reached virtually identi- 
cal conclusions. Both preached the doctrine that men, 
guns, and ships are simply the instruments with which 
war is carried on, and both reached the conclusion that, 
if our men, ships, and gmis were to be made to fight ef- 
fectively, they must be directed toward the correct ob- 
jective, and made to work together toward that objective. 
The further conclusion was that the only possible way by 
which to achieve these results was to have the navy di- 
rected by a general staff. 

One sentence in the latter part of my essay, in which 
I was leading up to the conclusion, read, 

"Incredible as it may appear, it seems nevertheless to be a 
fact that our naval establishment, enormous as it is, and the 
guardian of the wealth of the wealthiest country in the world, 
has simply been put together piecemeal, and has never been 
directed by a policy based on fundamental principles. It has 
never had the advantage of such direction as has been given 
to commercial organizations by men who made a special study of 
the policy that should direct them; by boards of directors, led 
by men like Scott, Westinghouse, Rockefeller, Huntington, 
Carnegie and Cassatt. These men devoted their lives to further- 
ing the aims of their respective companies ; and they understood 
the aims of their companies from a standpoint so far removed 
from the details, that they were able to direct the details, instead 
of being directed by them. ' ' 

After comparing the administration of the Navy De- 
partment with the administration of all other organiza- 



PRIZE ESSAY 373 

tions in the world, commercial, military, and naval, the 
following paragraph was put forward: 

**We see, therefore, that our navy is administered by 
a policy which is the reverse of that of every other large 
organization of the world. ' ' 

The argument then pointed out that, in order to justify 
such a system of administration, it would be necessary to 
prove that it was better than the others. Some pages of 
argument then followed to show that this could not pos- 
sibly be proved ; in fact, that it was not true. 

The essay closed by declaring the excellence of our 
men, ships, and guns, and admitting the great importance 
of technical matters ; and then the following sentence was 
put forward : 

''But the very fact of the tremendous importance of 
technical matters is the greatest reason why they should 
be directed aright to get the military results we need." 

The need for action was then urged in securing the 
establishment of a general staff and in giving that staff 
executive authority. In an endeavor to allay the fear 
which has been the greatest handicap the navy has suf- 
fered from during all its life, the fear that the ''power" 
of the secretary would be lessened, the following sentence 
was written, "No authority given to a subordinate can 
truly be said to lessen the power of his superior." 

It is an extraordinary fact, which I have never been 
quite able to explain, that it seems almost impossible to 
make a man who has not had military training realize that 
power delegated to a subordinate by a chief does not 
lessen the power of that chief. 

The essay was extraordinarily successful. I think I 
am right in saying that that essay received more favor- 
able attention than any other essay that has ever been 
published by the Institute before or since. It was ap- 
proved by naval officers everywhere and commented on 
favorably in the public press ; but of course it made no 
impression on the minds of the only people who could 
exert any influence in the matter, the members of Con- 



374 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

gress. The country was so thoroughly committed to the 
proposition that the military must be subordinate to the 
civil authority that no amount of subordination seemed 
to be excessive. 

Secretary Long had written a book called *'The New 
Navy," at the extreme end of which he warned the peo- 
ple against having a general staff. His argument was 
based wholly upon the assumption that it would lessen 
the ''power" of the secretary, and on the further assump- 
tion that it would be a calamity to have his power les- 
sened. Not a word was said about the efficiency of the 
navy or about its effectiveness in doing the work which 
the country expected it to do. This has been the case 
with all arguments against a general staff not only for 
the navy but also for the army. The arguments in favor 
of a general staff, on the other hand, have not been based 
on any personal or political considerations, but wholly on 
questions of efficiency and effectiveness. 

In other words, the opposition to a general staff has 
been political, and the efforts for a general staff have been 
national. Politicians in all countries have always been 
opposed to what they call "militarism," which they have 
persuaded the people to think menaces their liberties. 
Militarism does not menace the liberties of the people, 
but it does menace the irresponsible powers of poli- 
ticians. The correct meaning of the word militarism has 
the same connection with the word military that the cor- 
rect meaning of the word *' pacifism" has with ''pacific," 
that "realism" has with "realistic," "empiricism" with 
"empiric" and "symbolism" with "symbolic," that any 
noun ending with "ism" has with its corresponding 
adjective. Militarism, in its correct meaning, stands for 
something that is good and strong and honest and effi- 
cient in a country. 

In my prize essay I devoted much attention also to a 
controversy which was then raging vigorously, and on 
occasions bitterly. The controversy was about the 
building of larger battle-ships. The great majority of 



COMPROMISELESS SHIPS 375 

officers felt that the largest ships then in existence, which 
had a displacement of 16,000 tons, like our Connecticut, 
were at the extreme limit of effective size, if, in fact, they 
were not really beyond it. These officers represented 
the conservative element, but were led by no less a person 
than Mahan. It was stated, however, that the Japanese 
were about to build battle-ships of 18,000 tons, and that 
the English were actually building the Dreadnought of 
18,000 tons. In my essay I argued about the subject 
from different points of view, engineering, tactical, and 
strategic, and concluded that we should proceed to build 
ships of 20,000 tons at once, and prepare to build larger 
ships afterward. I summed up as follows : 

*'We may accept it as a principle, therefore, that we 
should make our battle-ships as large as the state of the 
engineering arts permits." 

My essay appeared in March, 1905. At the following 
session of Congress, one year later, the Delaware, of 
20,000 tons, was authorized, and in the following year 
her sister-ship the North Dakota was authorized. Since 
then our ships have been growing steadily larger and 
larger, as the progress of the engineering arts has made 
larger and larger castings and forgings practicable. In 
September, 1905, in order to answer the criticisms of 
some officers who held that I had gone too far in advo- 
cating 20,000-ton battle-ships, I wrote an essay for the 
Naval Institute, which I called "Compromiseless Ships," 
in which I pointed out that the larger a ship is, the fewer 
compromises have to be made in her construction, in ad- 
justing the conflicting claims of gunnery power, armor 
protection, and speed; and that a 20,000-ton ship, while 
not quite a compromiseless ship, would be much more 
nearly so than a smaller ship. Part of the argument was 
based on assumption that by the time such ships were 
built, the torpedo would have a range of 4000 yards; so 
that the guns of an enemy would be kept away that dis- 
tance, thus permitting lighter armor than if the torpedo 
range was shorter. The question of big ships was then 



376 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

being so hotly discussed that this paper attracted a great 
deal of attention from the press. Curiously, the idea 
of being able to fire torpedoes 4000 yards was considered 
a weak point in my argument, because such a range was 
considered impossible. Even London Engineering, in 
its issue of November 17, 1905, said, at the conclusion of 
a long editorial which had spoken most commendingly 
of my paper, ''But we wish he had not placed so much 
confidence in a broadside of torpedoes at 4000 yards." 
And now torpedoes have gone 13,000 yards and more ! 

Before leaving New York to join the Petrel in 1896, 
I had given a power of attorney in the matter of my 
telescope sight and other inventions, owned by the Ameri- 
can Range Finder Company, to Park Benjamin, who had 
been the patent attorney who took out the patents. 
After my departure, the company ascertained that the 
Bureau of Ordnance was infringing the patents they 
owned ; and so after many letters had been interchanged, 
and other things had been done which I did not hear 
about until afterward, the company brought suit in 
November, 1899, against the Newport News Shipbuilding 
and Dry Dock Company, and also against George N. 
Saegmuller, for infringing the patent of my telescope 
sight, alleging that he was using and manufacturing 
things patented. I was told that the company finally 
sold the Bureau of Ordnance the right to use the tele- 
scope sight for the sum of $10,000. This was a most 
foolish act. 

About 1900 the American Range Finder Company was 
bought out by Charles B. Van Nostrand, one of the orig- 
inal directors, who had lost about $30,000 by the under- 
taking. The expense of keeping up my foreign pat- 
ents had caused the abandoning one after another of 
all those patents with the exception of my telescope 
sight patents in France and Great Britain. As my con- 
tract with the company was that I should receive one 
fifth of the profits, and as there had been no profits, I 
had received no money; but as my contract did not say 



WIRELESS TELEGRAPH BOARD 377 

that I should pay one fifth of the losses, I did not 
have to pay out any money. Of course it was to my 
interest, from a purely business point of view, to pur- 
suade Mr. Van Nostrand to keep up the French and 
British patents, no matter what it might cost him, in the 
hope that the French and British Governments would 
pay for the use of my patents, as they ought to do. In 
1905, however, I advised him to give up the French 
patents, as we saw little chance of bringing any pressure 
on the French Government. Mr. Van Nostrand and I 
thought, however, that we had a good chance with the 
British Government, whose declared policy was to pay 
for patents which they infringed, and as we both knew 
some important people in London, we thought that the 
British Government might be induced to do so in the case 
of my patents. After trying for a couple of years, how- 
ever, at considerable additional expense to Mr. Van Nos- 
trand, I advised him not to spend any more money on the 
project, but to let the patents go. This he did. 

The Wireless Telegraph Board was formed about this 
time, and I was made a member of it. The two other 
members were Captain John A. Rogers and my classmate 
Peters. We used the Topeka and the lighthouse station 
on the Highlands at Navesink, New Jersey, as sending 
and receiving stations, the Topeka going out and back, 
and the members of the board taking turns at the two 
stations. One bright hot forenoon, when my station 
was on shore I could see the Topeka hardly more than 
a mile away, but could not exchange any signals what- 
ever by wireless on account of the static in the air. So 
we signaled back and forth by means of the ordinary 
signal-flag, and then the Topeka started off. As the day 
grew older, the static in the air diminished, and we were 
able to signal over considerable distances. On one occa- 
sion we established a record for wireless telegraph, 158 
miles. 

In December, 1905, I published an article in the Naval 
Institute, called ''The Stadimeter in Fire Control." 



378 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The purpose of the article was to point out from meas- 
urements made by myself of distant objects, whose dis- 
tances and height were accurately known, that the ac- 
curacy of the stadimeter was very much greater than was 
ordinarily supposed; that with an object 1513/2 feet high 
at 6580 yards, the average error was only 35i/^ yards; 
and that, if it were carefully adjusted, the stadimeter 
would be a most valuable instrument in ''fire control"; 
that is, in controlling the fire of the guns of a ship. Of 
course this was my intent when I invented the instru- 
ment in 1890, and this was the use to which I put it at 
the Battle of Manila, the first time that "spotting" was 
ever done. Ranges increased so rapidly after my article 
was published, however, that the stadimeter fell behind 
the requirements. So I invented and developed my 
"horizometer," which is merely an improvement though 
a very considerable improvement over the stadimeter. 

In January, 1906, I published an article in the Naval 
Institute called "Why Togo Won." The gist of the 
article was that Admiral Togo had won because he had 
prepared his fleet better than Admiral Rojesvensky had 
prepared his, and that the difference lay in the realism 
of the preparation. 

One sentence was "In the battle of the Sea of Japan, 
the Russians went into battle for the first time, while 
the Japanese had been in battle only ten months before ; 
many of their officers had seen service in the war with 
China, and all had had the tremendous advantage of bat- 
tle training and experience." Another sentence was, 
"The best preparation for a given work is to rehearse it 
under conditions as close as possible to those under 
which the real work itself will have to be performed." 
The article was a protest against the routine into which 
the fleet was falling, and the unrealistic character of the 
fleet drills, even of the target practice. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 

IN early March, 1906, I received orders to command 
the U. S. S. Minneapolis, then at Hampton Roads. 
The Minyieapolis and the Columbia were the two fastest 
vessels in the navy. They were 412 feet long, and had 
a speed of twenty-three knots on their trial trips. I re- 
ported on board, relieving Captain James M. Miller on 
March 10, and assumed command that day. 

My feelings on assuming command were the reverse 
of joyous. I was only three months short of being fifty- 
two years old, and I had always heard that if a man ar- 
rived at a command position after the age of forty, he 
was too old to discharge its duties well. I had always 
heard that it was absolutely necessary for a man to be- 
come accustomed to independent responsibility early in 
life, and that if a man had those responsibilities fall on 
him when he had passed his prime, he was apt to break 
down under the load. I realized that if anybody was 
liable to break down for those reasons, I was, because 
I was of a highly nervous temperament, and circum- 
stances had been such that I had never handled a ship 
at all myself. Two minute exceptions were moving the 
Petrel on from one anchorage to another about two 
hundred yards distant, and taking the Manila out into 
Manila Bay. But here I was in command of a ship that 
everybody knew was hard to handle, because she was so 
long and narrow. 

So, when I went on deck with Captain Miller, and saw 
all my future crew standing on the deck looking at me, 
I seemed to see in front of my eyes the words which I 
had once seen on the outside of a book of Victor Hugo's, 
*'Les derniers jours d' un condamne." 

379 



380 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

A few days afterward I had to get the ship under way 
and go to Newport News. I realized that I had to go 
there and anchor with the tide, that there were a great 
many schooners in the way, and that there would prob- 
ably be many schooners where I should want to anchor. 
I handled ships a great many times after that, but I 
never had a more difficult task than the one given to me 
that day. The strange part of it is that I never did 
better than I did that day. Inwardly, I was badly fright- 
ened; but I have always found that the more frightened 
I was beforehand, the better I have done. I remember 
my father telling me that whenever he started to make a 
speech, and felt perfectly master of himself and per- 
fectly calm, he was always dull. 

Two months later my mother died, and we took her 
body to our family burying-ground in Auburn, New York, 
my two brothers, my sister, and I. Her death broke a 
bond that was stronger than I realized, and even now I 
find myself occasionally forgetting that she is dead, and 
thinking that I will tell her something. As we walked 
back from the burying-ground, I remember saying to my 
brothers and sister, who were younger than I, *'It 's 
my turn next." 

That summer the Naval Academy Practice Squadron 
consisted of the Minneapolis, Denver, Cleveland, and Des 
Moines, the Minneapolis being the flag-ship, and carry- 
ing the flag of Rear-Admiral Royal Bird Bradford. We 
started from Hampton Roads on the fifteenth of June, 
and were caught by a strong gale on the following day. 
The condition of the poor midshipmen on board those 
four ships, crowded together as they were and dread- 
fully seasick, was deplorable; but it was over in a few 
days, and bright sunshine and smooth seas convoyed us 
to Madeira. A week's stay in that wonderfully beauti- 
ful and picturesque island, with an occasional glass of 
old Madeira, trips up and down the steep slopes of the 
mountains, and some quiet dinners at quiet homes, left 
many pleasant pictures in my mind, as like experiences 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 381 

have done in the minds of thousands of other sailors dur- 
ing many years. One of the wise remarks that I bore 
away in my memory from Madeira was made by a pretty 
Portuguese girl who spoke English very well. During 
a conversation after dinner with a little party she said 
to me, in reply to some remark which I had made, "But, 
Captain, it seems to me that you are confusing happiness 
and pleasure; you know they are very different things." 

We went from Madeira to the Azores. About an hour 
after leaving the anchorage, while I was still on the 
bridge, a stowaway was brought to me, who had been 
discovered under the cover of one of the boats. He was 
perhaps fourteen years old, and was badly frightened 
and crying bitterly. He talked English a little, and told 
me he wanted to go to the United States. 

At this time there was a desire among the young men 
of Madeira to get to the United States ; I suppose it was 
some sort of vague ambition. But Madeira was so much 
more beautiful than almost any place in the United 
States, the climate was so much better, and the condi- 
tions under which people lived there were so much pleas- 
anter than the conditions under which they would have 
to live if they came to the United States, that I was very 
glad to be able to put the boy ashore at Fayal, in the 
Azores, two days later, and have arrangements made 
for sending him back home. 

It is sometimes said, by way of reproach about some- 
body, that he does not know when he is well off. Does 
not this remark apply to every descendant of Adam and 
Eve, just as it applied to Adam and Eve themselves? 
Nations rise and fall, some become highly civilized, and 
some do not ; but have human beings themselves changed 
in all the ages? Are they any better or happier or 
wiser than were their ancestors thousands of years ago, 
or than are the inhabitants of Samoa now? Our rail- 
road tracks and our canals and our cities are, after all, 
mere scratches on the surface of the earth, and the earth 
turns round at the same speed, and goes around the sun 



382 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

in the same time, and the seasons come and go, just as 
if we were not here at all. ''Why do the heathen rage?" 
Perhaps it is for the same reason as that which impels 
a man to walk briskly in the keen, fresh air, that impels 
a boy to play, a baby to crawl, a dog to bark, and a flower 
to grow — the desire to expend stored-up energy. 

We had a pleasant trip westward from the Azores 
until within about two days' steaming of our destina- 
tion, which was Bar Harbor, Maine. Then we ran into 
one of these dense fogs prevalent in this part of the 
world in summer. We kept going ahead, nevertheless, 
the Minneapolis leading, and finally anchored in the 
haven where we would be, still in a dense fog. Navigat- 
ing in a fog is one of the most nerve-trying things that 
the captain and the navigator of a ship have to do. 

The fog persisted for two more days, and then Ad- 
miral Bradford hauled down his flag, having reached the 
retiring age of sixty-two. The instant that that flag 
came down he was changed in the twinkling of an eye 
from an officer of high command in the navy of the 
United States into a simple pensioner of the Govern- 
ment. 

Before one o'clock all the officers and men were drawn 
up on deck, and the admiral's barge rode at the gang- 
way, but without the admiral's flag; then the admiral 
came on deck, shook hands with all the officers, made a 
brief speech to the men, and passed over the gang- 
way to the barge. Then the band played "Should auld 
acquaintance be forgot," and a retired rear-admiral 
steamed slowly to the shore. 

I had occupied the starboard cabin of the Minneapolis, 
and Bradford the port cabin. I had had a steward, a 
cook, and one mess attendant, or servant; Bradford had 
had a steward, a cook, and two mess attendants. By 
some oversight, Bradford's servants were not detached 
when he left the ship; and so, when I moved into Brad- 
ford's cabin, which I did at once, I had two stewards, 
two cooks, and three mess attendants, besides the or- 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 383 

derly, who was always at the cabin door, and my gig's 
crew. Captains of ships do not have gig's crews now, 
because they have no gigs ; but in those days, and in all 
previous times, every captain of a ship had a gig, a long, 
narrow boat, pulled by oars, for his exclusive use. 

One of Bradford's mess attendants was a Japanese 
named Janasuki. He was tall, good-looking, and of seri- 
ous demeanor. Some months before, when at Norfolk, 
Bradford had called me into his cabin one morning and 
told me that Janasuki had gone ashore the day before 
with his permission, but had not returned, and that he 
wished that I would offer a reward for Janasuki 's appre- 
hension by the police. An hour later he sent for me 
again, and showed me a letter which he had received from 
a hospital in Norfolk, saying that Janasuki was there for 
treatment for nervous shock; that Janasuki had gone to 
a dentist the day before, and had twenty-four teeth ex- 
tracted. 

Janasuki appeared on board in about three days with- 
out any teeth. On being asked why he had all his teeth 
taken out, he said that his teeth were somewhat irregular, 
and he thought that artificial teeth would look better. 

Janasuki got an entire new set of teeth, but it took him 
some time to get used to them. During the time when he 
was accustoming himself to them, he used to wear his 
false teeth on dress occasions. Shortly after Bradford 
left, I found Janasuki reading Emerson's essays. I told 
him that this showed good taste, but that I might be able 
to find him a book that would be more interesting to him ; 
and I got him Kipling's ''Plain Tales from the Hills." 
A few days afterward, I asked him which book he liked 
the better. Janasuki answered in his precise fashion 
as follows: 

''Sir, I think that the book of Mr. Kipling is more 
exciting to the mind, but that the book of Mr. Emerson 
is more stimulating to the soul; and I think that I need 
to have my soul stimulated more than I do to have my 
mind excited." Some months afterward, when I took 



384 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

command of the monitor Arkansas, I took Janasuki with 
me, for he was a capable and careful servant. I went on 
a few days' leave at one time, and when I returned to 
the Arkansas I was told that Janasuki was missing, but 
that he had left a letter for me. I found this letter to be 
a carefully written one, covering seven pages of foolscap, 
nearly all of which was taken up with a discussion of 
the ethics of desertion. His conclusion, which was stated 
on the next to the last line of his letter, was that it would 
be wrong for him to desert. The last line, was *' Never- 
theless, I am going to desert. " 

I have often wondered who Janasuki was and what 
became of him. I found out one day, from a probably 
careless remark from him, that he was an engineer by 
profession; but I was unable to learn whether he was a 
highly educated engineer or an upper-grade mechanic. 
He was a man of fine mind, and was probably engaged 
on the work he was then performing with some ulterior 
purpose in view. 

My wife and daughter were at Bar Harbor, and we 
had a pleasant time for a few days. At the end of that 
time I received orders to assume command of a temporary 
fifth division of the Atlantic fleet, consisting of the ships 
that had constituted Admiral Bradford's squadron, and 
to proceed with them to join the flag of Rear-Admiral 
Evans, then anchored in Long Island Sound, in readiness 
for an approaching review by President Roosevelt at 
Oyster Bay. As Admiral Bradford's staff had gone with 
him, I had to organize a temporary staff in a hurry, and 
get ready to manceuver my division under the eye of the 
Commander in Chief. I did not look forward to the 
work with much pleasure; but I got through it without 
making any mistakes, much to my relief. 

About this time it was frequently remarked that Mr. 
Roosevelt was abnormally favored by good luck. Cer- 
tainly he was so favored on the day of his review. By 
the program, he was to embark in a small tug at eleven 
o'clock and go on board the Mayflower, and the May- 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 385 

-flower was then to steam past the fleet, down on one side 
and back on the other ; while all the officers and enlisted 
men were to stand on deck at attention and salute as he 
went by, the guns of each ship firing the national salute 
of twenty-one guns. As everybody had to be in full dress 
uniform, and the ships had to be dressed with flags, we 
were much concerned the following morning at seeing a 
depressing light fog, with a southerly wind and a driz- 
zling rain, and no indication of any change. Neverthe- 
less, at ten o'clock I offered to bet ten dollars with the 
executive officer of the ship that the weather would clear 
by eleven; but he answered that he was afraid to bet 
against the President's luck. I then offered to bet with 
the navigator and other officers, but received the same 
reply. About five minutes before eleven, the weather 
suddenly cleared, and it remained clear for the rest of 
the day. 

After the review, which was held on the twenty-fifth 
of September, 1906, my division was disbanded, and the 
Minneapolis was sent to the Philadelphia navy-yard to 
get ready to go to Cuba, where conditions were exceed- 
ingly disturbed. Our work at Philadelphia was hurried 
along, and on its completion I received orders to proceed 
to Havana with all despatch. 

On September 20, 1906, the Minneapolis was off the 
coast of North Carolina, proceeding from Philadelphia 
to Havana at sixteen knots speed. We had left the Phil- 
adelphia Navy- Yard two days before, with two battalions 
of marines and their camp equipage, because a revolt was 
imminent in Cuba, and the United States intended to 
prevent it. Marines and soldiers of the regular army 
were ordered to Cuba in large numbers and with great 
despatch. The marines, of course, got off first, and those 
on board the Minneapolis were the first detachment. We 
had four hundred of them, and these, in addition to the 
regular crew of the ship, made somewhat over eight hun- 
dred souls on board. 

Shortly before we left Philadelphia there had been a 



386 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

cyclone to the southward ; but this had subsided, and the 
weather on September the twentieth was clear and pleas- 
ant, the only reminder of the cyclone being a smooth and 
heavy swell. 

I turned in about half past ten that evening. About 
eleven o'clock I was awakened from a sound sleep by a 
vigorous rapping at my door and a voice calling : 

''Captain, Captain." 

''Well?" 

*'Man overboard, sir." 

*'Man overboard?" I inquired drowsily. 

''Yes, sir." 

"Very well; I '11 go on deck." 

By this time I was sufficiently roused to realize that 
the night was so warm that I need not put on any warm 
clothing, and that the gold braid on my cap visor would 
be sufficient identification on deck. So I simply put on 
my cap, and went up on the quarter-deck with no other 
clothing than my pajamas. 

When I got on the quarter-deck the great darkness pre- 
vented my seeing anything at first. But in a few mo- 
ments my eyes became sufficiently accustomed to the 
darkness to enable me to see that the two life-boats, which 
hung on each side of the quarter-deck, were already 
manned; and that what remained of the quarter-deck 
where lumber was not stowed, was covered with officers of 
the ship and marine officers, who, though perfectly quiet, 
had the air of being astonished at something. 

Just then the executive officer, Lieutenant-Commander 
Stanworth, came up and said: 

"Sir, we do not yet know exactly what has happened. 
I don't think any man has fallen overboard from the 
ship ; but the sergeant of the guard says he heard a man 
calling for help from the water." 

"But the ship has not been stopped," I said; "I hear 
the engines going now." 

"No, sir," he answered, "the officer of the deck put 
his helm hard aport and headed back. ' ' 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 387 

I sent an order to the officer of the deck to stop the 
ship, and head her in the direction we had come from, 
and to turn on both search-lights, and search in every 
direction. I interrogated Mr. Stanworth further, but 
found that he knew no more of the situation than he had 
already told me. 

There were a great number of officers congregated near, 
and I gathered from their remarks that they were thor- 
oughly mystified. I asked some of them if they could 
give me any information as to what had happened, and 
none of them could; but they all thought that whoever 
heard the cry for help was suffering from delusion, be- 
cause, as one of them said, how could there be anybody 
out here on the ocean at night, more than fifty miles from 
shore? I then told Mr. Stanworth that I would go on 
the bridge, and that I wished him to accompany me. I 
directed Ensign Howe to take charge of one life-boat and 
Ensign McCommon of the other, and to be ready to go in 
search of the man, but not to lower the boats until or- 
dered. 

On my way forward to the bridge, which in a ship four 
hundred and ten feet long took some time, I found the 
deck full of people conversing in subdued tones. They 
all stopped talking as I went by, but I could gather from 
stray remarks that they were more than incredulous as 
to there having been any cry for help ; and I heard such 
expressions as, ^'Oh, the sergeant 's got rats"; ^'He 's 
a ," etc., all along the decks. 

On my way forward the sudden realization came to 
me that I was in command of a ship sent on urgent duty 
at a critical time, and that I was headed in the wrong 
direction. 

When I got on the bridge the officer of the deck saluted 
and said : 

''Good evening, Captain." 

''Good evening, Mr. Cooper. What has happened?"- 

"I don't know exactly, sir; but a few minutes ago the 
sergeant of the guard, who is a very reliable man, ran up 



388 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

here and reported that he heard a man overboard in the 
water. So I put the helm hard aport and headed back, 
and now I 've got the ship stopped, according to your 
orders. I 've got both search-lights turned on, also, sir." 

"So the ship 's stopped, and you are headed back in 
the direction you came from?" 

'^Yes, sir." 

''Where 's the sergeant of the guard who made this 
report?" 

''Here, sir." The sergeant stepped forward out of 
the darkness, saluted, and stood at attention. 

"Now, Sergeant, tell me the whole story." 

"Well, sir, it had just gone six bells, and I was stand- 
ing by the port rail of the superstructure-deck, about 
half-way forward, talking to the chief carpenter's mate. 
All on a sudden I heard a man right under me, like he was 
right close to the ship, call out, ' Help ! ' I heard him as 
plain as I ever heard anything in my life, sir. So I said 
to the carpenter's mate, 'Did you hear that man call — 
"Help"?' 'No,' he said. Just then I heard him call 
again just the same as before, only not so loud, as if the 
ship had gone by him a little. ' God Almighty ! ' said the 
carpenter's mate, — those are the words he used, sir, — 'I 
heard him that time. ' Then I ran up to the officer of the 
deck as fast I could, sir, and told him just what I told 
you, sir. That is all I know about it, sir; but here 's 
the carpenter's mate, sir, and he '11 tell you the same as 
I do." 

"Carpenter's mate." 

"Yes, sir"; and another man came forward and 
saluted. 

"Did you hear any man call, 'Help' from the water?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Positive, sir." 

The sergeant and the carpenter's mate were evidently 
sober, and they were perfectly calm. I endeavored to 
impress them with the seriousness of turning back a ship 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 389 

bound on urgent duty ; but they both assured me with the 
utmost earnestness that they had heard the cry; and I 
became convinced that they were at least sincere. 

Then I figured out on a piece of paper the most prob- 
able direction of the man at the present time, and or- 
dered the officer of the deck to head in that direction, 
and go at a very slow speed, also to train one search- 
light in a direction which I indicated and the other in 
another given direction; but first to lower the life-boats, 
and order Howe and McCommon to pull just outside of 
the search-light beams. 

Then Mr. Stanworth and I stood together on the port 
side of the bridge, with our night glasses, looking in what 
we considered the most probable direction in which to 
pick up the man, supposing there was one. 

Before this time the men had been mustered at quar- 
ters, and it had been definitely ascertained that no one 
had fallen overboard. 

''What do you think of this, Stanworth?" 

''I don't know quite what to think of it. Captain. I 
don't see how a man could be overboard out here. My 
father was a pilot, and I have been among seafaring 
people all my life, and I think I 've read nearly all the 
sea-stories there are. I never heard of such a thing, 
but the men seem to be absolutely sure they heard a cry 
for help." 

"I know, but it seems more probable to me that there 
should be a ventriloquist on board than that there should 
be a man alone out here on the ocean." 

''By George!" said Stanworth, "I never thought of 
that." 

When Stanworth said, "By George," which was the 
closest approximation to profanity that he allowed him- 
self, I knew that he was roused from the condition of 
imperturbability in which he habitually lived, and I en- 
joyed the occasion accordingly. 

The events thus far narrated occupied about half an 
hour ; that is, until about seven bells, or half-past eleven. 



390 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Up to this time the rapid succession of impressions kept 
me interested and kept my faith alive; but as the mo- 
ments wore on, and the search-lights brought out noth- 
ing but the water, which they illuminated in greenish- 
white streaks, I began to doubt more and more the wisdom 
of my action. 

About fifteen minutes before twelve Stanworth said in 
his quiet voice: 

''I think I see something, sir." 

''Where?" 

' ' Near the left side of the beam of the forward search- 
light." 

I trained my glass in that direction, but could see 
nothing. Just then the search-light moved a little to the 
left, and through my night glass I thought I saw a little 
white projection sticking above water about two points 
on the port bow. 

''I think I see something, too." 

In a few minutes everybody on deck saw it. 

"What is it?" came from men scattered all about the 
decks. 

For some time, perhaps five minutes, but it seemed 
much longer, nothing could be made out of this curious 
little white elevation. 

"I think it 's moving, whatever it is," said Stanworth. 

*'It seems to me," continued Stanworth, speaking very 
slowly, ' ' that it moves from right to left and back again, 
like a pendulum upside down." 

*'Yes, I think you 're right," I said, and I directed 
the officer of the deck to head the ship toward the object 
at very low speed. 

The object seemed to be quite small, and it evidently 
did not move with the undulation of the sea. Its move- 
ment had not the same period ; it was quicker. It seemed 
to me as if it must be either a man who was moving 
from side to side, or else something that was moved by 
some kind of engine. The movement was perfectly regu- 
lar. 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 391 

''By George! sir," exclaimed Stanworth, "I believe 
it 's a man using a paddle ! Now, watch, and see if you 
don't see the paddle pretty soon. You see, if a man was 
in a little boat paddling, that is exactly the way his 
body would swing from right to left." 

''Yes, Stanworth, I think you 're right, except that 
there isn't any boat. The searchlight's on the thing 
full tilt; and if there were a boat, we 'd see it." 

"Yes," assented Stanworth, "that is what perplexes 
me ; but I think we shall have a solution of the mystery 
pretty soon. I see our boats pulling for the thing, what- 
ever it is." 

I looked, and there were our two life-boats racing, with 
all the vim and precision that was in them, for the prize. 
One boat got a little ahead of the other, and soon we saw 
the white object lifted into one of the boats. Then both 
boats pulled for the ship. 

The men were sent aft to man the life-boats' falls, and 
I sent word to Surgeon Lumsden that I thought we had 
picked up a man, and for him to be prepared to receive 
him in the sick-bay. Then I went aft on the quarter- 
deck. Both boats soon neared the ship; and in one of 
them was a man, in dark clothes, sitting in the stern 
sheets. I hailed the boat and asked if the man was 
badly hurt, and the man himself replied: 

"No sir; I 'm all right." 

By this time the surgeon had joined me on the quarter- 
deck and said: 

"Before receiving the man in the sick-bay, sir, I should 
like to examine him and see if he has any contagious or 
infectious disease." 

"Very well. Doctor; I '11 have the man brought here, 
and you may examine him as you think best. I '11 not 
interfere." 

The boat was hoisted level with the deck, and the man 
was passed out, and carried forward by two stout sailors, 
and brought before the surgeon. 

"Can you stand up?" said the surgeon. 



392 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

''Yes, sir," said the man; and at a sign from me, the 
two men put him on his feet and let him stand up. He 
was a man of middle size, with a short brown beard ; ap- 
parently about thirty-five years old. He had on a shirt 
and a pair of trousers. 

''Have you any contagious or infectious disease?" 
said the surgeon. 

"No, sir." 

The doctor put his hand on his pulse and said : 

"Open your mouth." The man opened his mouth, 
and it looked healthy except that his tongue was swollen. 

"How long have you been in the water?" said the 
surgeon. 

"Nearly three days, sir." 

"How long since you 've had any food?" 

"Just three days ago to-night, sir." 

"How long since you Ve had any water?" 

"Same time, sir." 

' ' Do you feel any special pain or distress in any part of 
your body?" 

' ' Well, I feel pretty tired, but I 'm all right, ' ' was the 
sturdy reply. 

He was carried below, and I shall never forget the feel- 
ing of admiration with which I looked at this man, so calm 
and self-possessed after passing through such an ordeal. 
In my experience I have never known his nerve to be 
equaled. 

About an hour later the surgeon reported that the 
rescued man was now asleep, and that he thought that 
there was nothing the matter with him except that the 
flesh of his arms and thighs was greatly lacerated. 

The next day I went down to the sick-bay and found 
him lying in a cot. He put out his hand and said to me 
in a cordial, but matter-of-fact, tone : 

"I 'm very much obliged to you for saving me. Cap- 
tain." 

" I 'm very glad to have saved you ; we sailors have to 
do these things for each other now and then." 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 393 

Then, in reply to a question, he told me that his name 
was George Olsen, and that he had been first mate of 
the schooner Twilight, bound from Charleston to some 
Northern port. On Monday they had been caught in 
the cyclone, but had managed to get some supper Mon- 
day night. About six o'clock Tuesday morning the 
schooner had been thrown on her beam-ends, so that her 
masts rested on the water. The masts almost imme- 
diately broke in two, and the schooner went bottom up. 
He himself was thrown out violently into the water, with 
a great deal of lumber with which the schooner was 
laden. This lumber was hurled about by the waves, and 
he thought that the other men were probably killed by 
the lumber at that time. He, however, managed to get 
clear of the wreckage. He then got hold of two boards, 
and supported himself by putting his arms over them. 
He had on a pair of thick rubber boots, a heavy oilskin 
coat, and a sou'wester. 

He remained in this position twenty-four hours. At 
the end of that time the violence of the sea had dimin- 
ished. He then took the two boards and placed them in 
the form of a cross, and lashed them together at the 
cross with a sort of rope, and made by tearing his oil- 
skin coat into strips and tying them together. He then 
sat astride of this cross, and found a small piece of wood, 
which he used as a paddle. While in this position, he saw 
the smoke of several steamers, but could not make the 
people on board see him. Finally, on Thursday night, he 
saw the white, green, and red lights of a steamer coming 
toward him very fast. He paddled as hard as he could 
until he got directly in front of her ; then, as she got very 
near, he paddled out just clear of her course, and yelled 
for help with all his might. 

''And pretty soon," he said simply, ''I saw the ship 
turn around, and then I knew I was all right." 

I kept Olsen on board a month until his flesh had healed. 
Then we got up a subscription in the ship, and he went 
home to his wife and family in Sweden. 



394 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Our stay in Havana was pleasant, but one night we 
had an uncomfortable experience. I had gone ashore 
in the afternoon for a walk, and on my return at about 
five o'clock had been informed by the executive officer 
that telegraphic information had been received that a 
hurricane was coming rapidly, that the wind was already 
beginning to rise, and that he had ordered steam in all 
boilers and taken other measures. 

The wind increased very rapidly, and by eight o'clock 
it was raining heavily, and a tremendous gale was blow- 
ing. As there were a number of ships in the harbor, quite 
close together, and as I knew that the direction of the 
wind would change rapidly as the center of the storm 
approached, and that we should have very little distance 
between our stern and a shoal when the wind got to the 
southeast point, I kept men at the engine telegraphs, 
ready to signal orders to the engine-rooms below. But 
as I appreciated the danger of using the main engines 
when lying at anchor in a gale, though it sometimes has 
to be done, I was naturally anxious. 

I stood on the bridge till daylight, watching the storm, 
noting how the wind got higher, the rain denser, the 
thunder louder, and the lightning more vivid, when sud- 
denly everything seemed to come to a climax with a 
tremendous peal of thunder, an intense flash of lightning, 
and a blow on top of my head that threw me down on my 
hands and knees on the bridge. I did not lose con- 
sciousness, and I soon got to my feet and to a realization 
of what had happened. Almost exactly on the stroke of 
two bells, or one o'clock, when the wind rose to its high- 
est shriek, a little awning over our heads, which had been 
forgotten, was blown away, and a short beam of wood 
about six feet long had been broken from its fastenings, 
and thrown down on my head. 

The hurricane slowly subsided after one o 'clock, as its 
center passed away from us, and by eight o 'clock the next 
morning the weather was beautiful in every way; the 
wind still fresh, but rapidly decreasing in force, as the 



COMMANDING THE MINNEAPOLIS 395 

center of the cyclone speeded farther and farther away. 
The authorities in Havana declared later that this was 
one of the most violent hurricanes that had ever passed 
over the city, though, like all violent hurricanes, it had 
been brief. They could not tell what the velocity of the 
wind was, because all the instruments for measuring the 
wind had blown away. Great damage had been done. 
Nearly one third of the trees had been wholly or partly 
destroyed; lightning-rods had been bent at right angles, 
a thing I had never seen before and have never since. 
All over Havana the wind broke windows and forced 
rain into shops and dwelling-houses, and did tremendous 
damage to furniture and upholstery. It was said that 
everybody who owned anything lost something that night. 
In the early part of October the situation in Cuba 
became adjusted to the satisfaction of the United States, 
mainly by the clear head and purpose of President Roose- 
velt, who acted through Mr, Taft, whom he had made 
temporary governor-general. The Minneapolis was then 
ordered to Philadelphia to go out of commission ; and I 
was ordered to take command of the monitor Arkansas, 
then at anchor in the Severn River, off the Naval 
Academy, at Annapolis. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

COMMANDING A MONITOR 

THE change from the Minneapolis to the Arkansas 
was great, because the difference between the two 
vessels was radical. The Minneapolis was a long, nar- 
row, deep, fast, lightly built cruiser; the Arkansas was 
a short, broad, shallow, slow, heavily armored coast-de- 
fence monitor, sometimes irreverently called a ''flat- 
iron." As my promotion would be due in about eight 
months, I foresaw that I should spend the winter and 
spring in Annapolis taking the midshipmen out for short 
trips in Chesapeake Bay, and that the Arkansas would 
be one of the ships in the practice squadron the following 
summer. 

Monitors have always been hard to handle, and moni- 
tors like the Arko/tisas were specially so, because they 
had inturning propellers, a joint invention of engineers 
and the devil, which is no longer allowed to exist and vex 
the souls of naval officers. Naturally, I was a little 
anxious on my first trip, and especially at the end of 
the trip, when I was steaming up to the buoy to which 
we were to make fast. There was no danger to be ap- 
prehended, but there was a tine chance of doing a clumsy 
and unseaman-like piece of work. But I steamed right 
up to the buoy and made fast to it as perfectly as any- 
body could have done. Naturally, I patted myself on 
the back and said to myself, ''These things are easy 
enough to do if you only know how." I subsequently 
found that I should not have complimented my skill, 
but should have thanked my luck; because I was never 
able to do it so well again, even after I had had a good 
deal of practice. Human beings are much the same : we 

396 



COMMANDING A MONITOR 397 

attribute our successes to our skill, and our failures to 
our luck. 

The Arkansas stayed at Annapolis until the following 
June, spending the coldest months of the winter along- 
side of the dock at the Naval Academy. We stayed out 
in the stream at anchor until it became dangerous to stay 
there any longer, on account of the difficulty of com- 
municating with the shore by reason of the ice. The 
incident that finally decided that it was time to move 
in was rather curious. A thin film of ice was on the 
water, and when the steam launch returned from an 
early trip ashore, it was found that this film of ice had 
acted like a knife to the steam launch, and cut a score 
which was nearly half an inch deep and about an eighth 
of an inch wide half the distance from the bow to the 
stern. 

The following winter was extremely pleasant in many 
ways, but exceedingly dull from a professional point of 
view. I had very little to do personally, and so I decided 
to write another essay in competition for the prize and to 
call my essay ''The Naval Profession." 

My idea was to point out that the navy (and also the 
army) was not merely an organization like political 
business or social organizations ; but that it was an or- 
ganization more like the Roman Catholic Church, be- 
cause its members were members not only of an organ- 
ization, but also of a profession; and that that profes- 
sion was as distinctly a profession as was that of medi- 
cine, law, or the church. It followed from this that the 
activities of the navy must be directed according to the 
principles of the profession, if they were to be directed 
aright; and that they must be directed aright, if the 
navy was to do what it was paid to do by the people. 

This essay, like the previous essay, led up to the 
necessity for a general staff, and pointed out the dan- 
gerous absurdities of the system by which the navy was 
then administered. One of the paragraphs was as fol- 
lows : 



398 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The naval profession now covers a very wide field in both 
its military and its engineering phases ; and this field is increas- 
ing so rapidly that it is impossible for any one officer to man- 
age it. And yet the Secretary is expected not only to master 
it, but to make decisions on the most difficult questions imme- 
diately after he takes his seat. A civilian with the natural genius 
of Napoleon could not do this wisely; unless he had counsel 
which was complete and correct, and so authoritative as to 
be a warrant for acting on it. 

It was then pointed out that a general staff was the 
only kind of body that would be competent to give such 
counsel. 

But while the main purpose of my essay was to point 
out the absolute necessity for having a general staff 
which should direct the navy as a whole to the fulfil- 
ment of its purpose, almost equal stress was laid on the 
ultra-conservatism of the navy, especially in the matter 
of mechanism. Many instances of excessive slowness in 
adopting good ideas were mentioned, some of which were 
drawn from my own experience. One of the important 
divisions of the paper was headed by the words ''Neces- 
sity for Keeping Mechanism up to Date." After dis- 
cussing this question for ten pages, the next division was 
reached, which was headed ''Proposed Remedy." At 
the beginning of this division was the sentence, "The 
remedy is easy to find, because it has been found 
already by the large industrial concerns. ' ' After .a few 
sentences devoted to explaining this, the essay con- 
tinued: 

"The remedy found by the great industrial concern is 
simply that of recognizing affirmatively the necessity of 
having up to date contrivances, and of establishing an 
experimental department, whose business is not only 
to improve on old appliances and invent new ones, but 
to examine all schemes submitted by outside inventors, 
and test such as seem to be worthy of testing." 

After discussing this, and pointing out how the ex- 
perimentalists in an industrial concern correspond to the 



COMMANDING A MONITOR 399 

readers in a publishing house, the next paragraph fol- 
lowed : 

But how could such a scheme be adapted to the navy? It 
could be, by recognizing affirmatively the value of keeping up 
with the times and by recognizing, further, that this, like many 
other necessary things, is hard to do, and that something must be 
sacrificed, to do it. The experimental departments of the in- 
dustrial concerns cost a great deal of money, and compHcate 
the organization, and take away the services of the best work- 
men; but nevertheless, they are kept up, and they are rising 
in importance from year to year. So, with the navy, if we 
start what would correspond to an experimental department, we 
must prepare to spend a great deal of time, money and brain 
work on it, and expect to find it a bother in many ways. 

It will be seen that this experimental department was 
substantially the same thing, or fulfilled the same func- 
tions, as the Invention and Experiment Board which 
I suggested to the secretary of the navy in 1915. 

Another part of the paper was devoted to pointing out 
a fact that was not realized then, and which I amplified 
later in other essays, that naval power, like military 
power, is essentially mechanical, that ships can carry 
weapons and engines much more powerful than soldiers 
can, and that navies can therefore exert much more de- 
structive power than armies can. One of the divi- 
sions of the paper was headed ''Battleships More Power- 
ful than Armies. ' ' One of the sentences in this division 
read: 

It is well to note that the sole reason for having an organized 
army instead of an undisciplined horde of men, is that an army 
organized, drilled, and equipped is, because it is organized, 
drilled, and equipped, a machine possessing a vast amount of 
energy which can be directed to a definite object, better than an 
undisciplined horde of men can ; and it may be further pointed 
out that the reasoning above proves that our projected battle- 
ship will be a machine of a higher order, possessing in her gun 
fire a greater amount of concentratable energy than an army of 
123,000 men. 



400 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

This essay got the third prize, the second honorable 
mention. In my humble opinion this essay was as good 
as my previous one : I think it was better from the point 
of view of originality, but inferior in its construction. 
Its principal fault was in bringing in a number of mat- 
ters that were not pertinent to the essay. This not only 
made the essay unduly long, but it occasioned a lack 
of unity and directness. There were two distinct essays 
instead of one. If the essay had been divided into two 
essays, one called ''The Naval Profession" and the 
other called "Naval Strategy," both essays would have 
been better than the one actually sent in. 

Shortly after I had assumed command of the Arkansas 
I wrote to the Bureau of Ordnance requesting permis- 
sion to secure my turret range-finder to the top of the 
turret of the Arkansas, in order that I might observe 
its performance under practical conditions, and make it 
a practical instrument if possible. This request was 
granted and when the Arkansas went into dry-dock at 
Norfolk in the early part of April, I got the instrument 
in perfect adjustment. I then wrote to the bureau stat- 
ing this fact, saying that I would like to have the perma- 
nence of adjustment of the range-finder tested officially, 
and requesting an allowance of five twelve-inch shots to 
be fired from one of the guns of the turret for this pur- 
pose. The bureau granted my request, and sent Lieu- 
tenant-Commander G. W. Williams to make the test. 

The test was held under his direction. After stating 
certain details, Mr. Williams wrote as follows as the third 
paragraph of his report: 

During the firing, the Barr and Stroud Range Finder was dis- 
mounted and removed from the top of the turret. The distance 
of the light-house on shore was measured after each shot by the 
turret range finder; and after the firing was completed, by both 
range finders. The maximum difference of readings for the tur- 
ret range finder was 400 yards, varying between 6400 and 6000. 
The distance by Barr and Stroud Range Finder was 6200 j^ards. 
After completion of these tests, simultaneous observations with 



COMMANDING A MONITOR 401 

the two range finders were taken on the ships of the Atlantic 
Fleet which was standing in to an anchorage in Hampton Roads. 
The ranges observed were from 7,000 to 12,000 yards, and the 
two range finders were in agreement within the limits of personal 
error. 

I am of the opinion that a range finder constructed on this 
principle is accurate, and that its accuracy will not be materially 
affected by the shock of discharge of a gun of the turret on which 
it is mounted. 

In the sixth paragraph Mr. Williams wrote, "In re- 
gard to the usefulness of a range finder mounted on top 
of a turret, I have grave doubts. The proposition to con- 
trol the fire of a turret from the turret itself runs counter 
to the adopted policy of central ship fire control," etc. 

His last paragraph read, ''I therefore recommend that 
the turret range-finder be not adopted at present." 

Concerning this report, I wrote to the bureau on May 
13, 1907, protesting against the report, and pointing out 
that my turret range-finder was not intended to affect 
the policy of central ship fire control in the slightest, but 
merely to afford a more accurate and safe range-finding 
instrument than was then used. I pointed out the ex- 
treme importance of having a correct range-finder and 
a correct system of range-finding, and said this impor- 
tance would ''increase also with the excitement of bat- 
tle." I pointed out the probability of the fire-control 
stations being directly attacked, and reminded the bureau 
that at the Battle of Chemulpo all the men in the fore- and 
the main-tops of the Variag had been either killed or 
wounded. I pointed out the extreme value of being able 
to continue to fight as long as possible, and the aid which 
a protected range-finder would give toward the close 
of a battle, when unprotected stations had been destroyed. 

My letter had no effect, however; at least I never re- 
ceived an answer to it. 

For several years all our new battle-ships have been 
fitted with turret range finders. 

The midshipmen's practice cruise that summer was 



402 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

carried out in four ships, the Olympia, Arkansas, Florida, 
and Nevada, the Olympia being Dewey's old flag-ship, 
and the other vessels being monitors. 

The cruise was extremely pleasant, but only two in- 
cidents stand out in my memory. One incident was a 
trial of my method for finding a ship's position in a fog, 
when the sun or a star can be seen, while the horizon 
cannot be seen ; the other was our visit to Bath, Maine. 

A ship's position at sea is ascertained by making cer- 
tain computations based on the height of the sun or heav- 
enly body above a horizontal line. In the ordinary prac- 
tice of navigation, the angle is measured between the 
heavenly body and the horizon, the horizon being as- 
sumed to be in a horizontal direction from the observer ; 
and a correction is afterward applied, based on the height 
of the observer above the water, to correct for the error 
due to this assumption. Now, it often happens that the 
sun or heavenly body can be seen with perfect clearness, 
but the horizon cannot be seen. As I have mentioned 
before, I had made a great many attempts to devise an 
instrument, which would remain horizontal at sea, to be 
used in place of a horizon ; but I had never succeeded. It 
had occurred to me, however, sometime shortly after 
1900, that if an observer would measure the distance 
of another ship and simultaneously measure the alti- 
tude of the sun or heavenly body above that other 
ship, the angle below the horizontal of that ship 's water- 
line would be just as well known as the angle of the 
horizon below the horizontal, and could be as effectively 
employed. For some reason I had never tested my 
scheme in practice; but before our cruise began, I told 
Lieutenant-Commander Yates Stirling, who was both 
executive officer and navigator, to try it on the first 
opportunity. 

One morning at sea Stirling reported to me that he 
had tried the method the night before, measuring the 
height of the north star above the white truck-light of 
the Florida and that, when he worked out the sight, he 



COMMANDING A MONITOR 403 

saw it was a perfect success. We anchored at Bath 
shortly afterward, and I immediately started in with a 
series of observations in Bath Harbor, which were per- 
fectly successful, and in which Midshipman Hunsacker 
was my assistant. 

I described these observations in full in an article in 
the Naval Institute shortly afterward, the name of the 
article being, ** Navigating without Horizon." I have 
used the method many times since, and other officers have 
done so also. 

Our stay at Bath was very pleasant. On one occasion 
the citizens gave a ball to the officers and midshipmen 
which I shall always remember. The ball-room was 
elaborately decorated with flags of all kinds, and was very 
large and high. I have often wondered since what kind 
of room it could have been, because I could not see any 
windows either at the sides or in the top. The entrance 
was draped with flags, and was rather long and narrow; 
so that there was no chance for any ventilation whatever 
that I could observe. The dancing started about nine 
o'clock, and kept up till three, and as I danced every 
dance, and as the room was crowded, and as there was 
no air whatever in that ball-room after the ball was 
finished that had not been there before the ball began, I 
was somewhat tired when I got back on board ship. 

The next day there was a water carnival given by 
the city, in which the practice squadron was asked to take 
part. We had known about this for several days, and 
some of the midshipmen and enlisted men had asked 
permission to take our sailing-launch, which was a large, 
open old-fashioned boat, rig it up to represent a pirate, 
and enter it in the carnival. Of course I was very glad 
to give permission, and when the executive officer re- 
ported to me that the pirate ship was all ready, and was 
just sailing off from the beach, where the crew had been 
making some changes in her, I went on the quarter-deck 
to see her. There she was, coming toward the Arkansas 
under full sail. She was brig-rigged, and had a black 



404 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

flag at the masthead, with a skull and cross bones on it. 
On each side she had five make-believe guns, and I could 
see that the crew were dressed up to look very fierce. 
As the brig went under the stern of the Arkansas, the 
pirates rose and brandished their swords, and made some 
savage gestures, and looked very terrible indeed. Im- 
agine my feelings to see the name painted on the stern 
in large letters, *' Bradley A. Fiske." 

After sailing around the four ships of the squadron, 
the pirate admiral visited each ship in succession, and 
was received with appropriate honors. During the eve- 
ning the pirate ship took part in the parade and received 
the prize. The following day the crew took part in the 
shore parade, which was reviewed by Governor Cobb. 
As they passed the reviewing stand, the pirates left the 
parade, and reported in person to the Governor, and of- 
fered their services in case of war. The governor ac- 
cepted the offer, and invited them to take seats on the 
grand stand. 

The Arkansas went from Bath to New London, Con- 
necticut, and there I received orders to proceed to Wash- 
ington for examination for promotion to the grade of 
captain. I was of course somewhat fearful about my 
physical examination, on account of my heart disease; 
but the doctors told me that my heart was right in every 
way, and that I was remarkably healthy for a man of 
fifty-two, though I was greatly underweight. 

It was now thirty-two years and three months since 
my graduation. Thirty men had stood up together on 
graduation day, but of these only four now were left 
on the active list, and only four became captains, Peters, 
Fiske, Hutchins, and Bowyer. 

After my examination, I returned to the Arkansas 
at New London. The cruise was nearly over now, and 
in a few days we started for Hampton Roads. From 
Hampton Roads we went to the Washington Navy-Yard 
to give the midshipmen an opportunity to see guns and 
gun-carriages in course of manufacture. On going up to 



COMMANDING A MONITOR 405 

the navy-yard dock, I saw it would be difficult to make a 
good landing, because we were going with the tide; but 
as the tide was not strong, I thought I would try to go 
alongside without turning around. Just as I got nearly 
where I wanted to go, however, some eddy got the stern 
and threw it out. That hint was sufficient for me, and 
so I changed my plan and went alongside the dock, head- 
ing out. I was able to accomplish this quite smoothly, 
for which I was glad; because there were a number of 
naval officers on the dock looking at us. After we had 
made fast, some of them came on board; and one of 
them, a commander, said to me : 

"Jim, that was one of the best pieces of ship-handling 
I 've ever seen." 

"Well, it really was n't," I answered. "It was really 
a bungle ; I was trying to do something else. ' ' 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

TUREET KANGE-FINDEE, HOEIZOMETER, COURAGE, AND 
, PRUDENCE 

IT was now the latter part of August. I was detached 
in a few days and placed on waiting orders. I went 
to New York, and on my way passed through Washing- 
ton, where I went to arrange what duty I should be 
ordered to. I was offered the command of the battle- 
ship Illinois, which was to take part in the cruise around 
the world, in the fleet under Rear-Admiral Evans. Of 
course I accepted it with pleasure. As the fleet was not 
to start for some months, I was given charge of the 
recruiting offices in New York. This duty was not much 
to my liking, but as it was to continue for only a short 
time, I accepted the duty, if not with pleasure, at least 
with philosophy. 

In the early part of October my wife was taken desper- 
ately ill. After about a month the attending physician 
told me that he thought a surgical operation was neces- 
sary. I called in a prominent surgeon of New York, and 
he told me, after an examination, that she could not 
stand the operation, and that, furthermore, it was too 
late. He told me, however, that he was not sure that 
the disease was as it had been diagnosed, and that she 
might possibly get well without an operation; in which 
case her recovery would be long and tedious. 

This put me in a painful position not only personally, 
but professionally. To give up the command of a bat- 
tle-ship just as she was to start on an extended cruise 
would be almost professional suicide, and yet I could not 
leave my wife in her dangerous condition. So I wrote 
a personal letter, explaining matters to Admiral Brown- 

406 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 407 

son, who was chief of the Bureau of Navigation, and one 
of the most strict and officer-like men in the navy, and 
therefore, one of the fairest and most high-minded. I 
got back a letter from Brownson, saying that if I would 
write an official letter, requesting that my name be 
taken off of the list of the officers of the Illinois, my re- 
quest would be granted. I made the request, and it was 
granted. I have heard since that most officers thought I 
had professionally killed myself, or at least shut the 
door to any further career in the navy except of a very 
obscure kind. 

During the autumn and winter my wife was very ill 
indeed; nevertheless, she gradually improved. My 
duty as recruiting officer had the advantage that it gave 
me considerable leisure in which to look out for my wife, 
and as she had a professional nurse, it enabled me also 
to develop my turret range-finder and my horizometer. 
Both of these instruments I developed at my own ex- 
pense at the works of the Western Electric Company on 
West Street. 

I had my turret range-finder removed from the top of 
the turret of the Arkansas, and placed in its old position 
on top of the roof of the Western Electric Company's 
building. There were a number of prominent objects in 
sight, and so in a short time I was able to get the in- 
strument to working well and giving accurate readings. 

Then I wrote a careful letter to the Bureau of Ord- 
nance, asking for a retrial of my turret range-finder. I 
pointed out that the only objection which the Bureau of 
Ordnance had previously expressed regarding the tur- 
ret range-finder was in regard to its ability to withstand 
the shock of discharge of the guns in a turret, and that 
the tests on board the Arkansas in April had conclusively 
proved that it could withstand such a shock. 

The bureau appointed a board, of which Captain Henry 
Morell was the head. This board made many measure- 
ments, using in comparison with it the ordinary fifty- 
four-inch Barr «& Stroud range-finder, and also a nine- 



408 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

foot Barr & Stroud range-finder that belonged on board 
the Connecticut, and which was operated during these 
trials by Lieutenant Smith, who was the officer who used 
it in the Connecticut. The board made a report, dated 
November 13, 1907. 

The tests of the instrument were made in measuring 
known distances ranging from 1100 yards to 12,000 yards, 
and they were compared with the measurements made 
by the two Barr & Stroud range-finders. In its report 
the board found fault with many of the mechanical ar- 
rangements of my range-finder, although I had explained 
to them that those mechanical arrangements were due 
merely to the necessity at that time of putting the range- 
finder on a platform, that the range-finder itself was in- 
tended to be secured inside of a turret, and that I was 
merely trying to show that a range-finder could be made 
as long as the diameter of the turret and be accurate, 
and that I had already proved that it could stand the 
shock of discharge of the guns. The second paragraph 
of the board's conclusion read as follows: 

In regard to accuracy, when both are in adjustment, the 
Board is of the opinion that with equal magnitieation, the ac- 
curacy of the Fiske Turret Range Finder and the 4'6" Base 
Barr & Stroud instrument, to a range of 5000 yards, would be 
approximately equal ; and that with a Barr & Stroud of 9' base, 
the observations would be approximately of equal accuracy to 
about eight or nine thousand yards. Be.yond this range, it is 
believed that the 15' base of the Fiske Turret Range Finder 
would give more accurate readings. 

As the report of the board was distinctly unfavorable, 
although it did not deal with the subject of turret range- 
finders itself, but devoted itself entirely to the actual de- 
vice which I had submitted, I wrote a letter to the bureau, 
in which I pointed out that my invention of a turret 
range-finder was not limited to any kind of mechanism, 
but rather to the manner of combining a range-finder 
and a turret, which I had set forth in my patent specifica- 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 409 

tion, and I asked the bureau to call the attention of the 
board to certain items in their report which I specified. 
The bureau submitted my letter to the board, and the 
board made certain comments in reply under date of 
January 23, 1908. The gist of the board's reply was that 
the board adhered to its original report. 

About the first of April I received orders to report for 
duty at the Philadelphia Navy-yard, as captain of the 
yard, a position next to that of commandant. These 
orders were very distressing, as my wife was still ex- 
tremely ill; but of course they were perfectly proper, 
and of course I obeyed them without remonstrance. 

Shortly after my arrival at the Philadelphia Navy- 
yard I had my turret range-finder sent there, and I in- 
stalled it in position at the end of one of the wharfs, 
from which a view of many objects could be had. After 
getting the range-finder ready, I wrote a letter to the 
bureau, dated May 12, 1908, in which I pointed out that 
the previous board had not mentioned one good feature 
of my turret range-finder until certain questions in my 
protest had brought out those features in the board's 
reply. 

A board was duly ordered, and in due time made its 
report, which was dated June 19, 1908. This board, like 
the others, found fault with the details of the instrument 
presented; but unlike the previous report, did take up 
the subject of a turret range-finder per se. 

The board did not agree at all with my proposition 
that a turret range-finder was a desirable thing to have. 
The eighth paragraph read as follows: 

The board has given careful consideration to the proposed 
method of Captain Fiske of installing a range finder protected 
by armor upon the turret. Such a method is found to derive 
its most useful application only from the adoption of the system, 
which to the board appears radically wrong, of individual fire 
control for each turret, as against centralized fire control for 
the entire ship. And while, as an adjunct to the present fire 
control system — or more accurately speaking, as a reserve to 



410 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

be used upon the disabling of that system — it would have an 
undoubted value, the board deems that if the weight necessary 
for five or more armored turret range-finder stations were de- 
voted to the protection of the central fire control system, a 
higher fighting efficiency would result; and it is considered that 
with an armored fire control S3'stem, the purposes of individual 
control as a reserve would be fulfilled by supplying to each tur- 
ret a small range-finder, such as the stadimeter or some other 
type of portable instrument. 

In conclusion the board recommended that my instru- 
ment should not be tried on a ship in commission for 
further test. 

The reports of the various boards on the turret range- 
finder are interesting now in the light of the fact that all 
the battle-ships which have been authorized since 1910 
have been fitted with turret range-finders that come 
specifically within the claims granted to me by the United 
States Patent office, and published in my patent, dated 
November 20, 1900. 

Before I had gone to the Minneapolis I had invented 
an instrument that I called a ''horizometer," because it 
was intended at first to be both an improvement on the 
stadimeter and an instrument for measuring distances 
of objects at sea, the base of which was one's own height 
above the sea; so that the range was measured by meas- 
uring the angle of the distant object below the horizontal. 
It was a very pretty instrument indeed, and it worked 
very well when the horizon could be clearly seen. I 
took it with me when I went to the Minneapolis, and 
tried it a great many times at sea and in port, some- 
times using it on the bridge and sometimes in the main- 
top. A board of officers tried it, and made an official 
report while we were in Madeira. The report of the 
board was favorable in the main, but pointed out that 
the instrument was too small, in their opinion, to get the 
accuracy required. I took the instrument with me when 
I went to the Arkansas, and after many trials with it I 
concluded that the horizon could so seldom be seen with 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 411 

sufficient clearness that I would have to give up one of 
my ideas in connection with it (that of measuring an 
object by measuring its angular distance below the 
horizontal) and confine myself to using it as an im- 
provement on the stadimeter. I concluded, however, to 
retain the name horizometer simply as a matter of con- 
venience. 

By the time I left the Arkansas, however, I realized that 
the instrument was too small, especially since the ad- 
vancing improvement in naval gunnery called for greater 
accuracy than before, and for the measurement of longer 
distances. So I constructed another instrument, and 
submitted that for trial. This instrument was tried by 
the same board that tried my turret range-finder. The 
report of this board was far from favorable. 

During the years that followed the target practice in 
the spring of 1903, which tested the system of gunnery 
training devised by Captain Sir Percy Scott, and intro- 
duced into the United States Navy by Sims, the gunnery 
of the navy has made a great advance. As a naval offi- 
cer and as the inventor of both the telescope sight and of 
spotting, I was of course much pleased, and the fact that 
all the credit was given to Sims, and none of it to me, 
did not disturb me in the least. It seemed to me, how- 
ever, that the gunnery would be even better if less de- 
pendence were placed on spotting and more on the use 
of the range-finder. It seemed to me that spotting was 
essentially too crude and inexact a method to give suffi- 
ciently good results for so precise a science as that of 
gunnery, and that it would be better to use the range- 
finder as the basis of the gunnery practice, and use spot- 
ting simply to correct the indications of the range-finder. 
As I had talked and written a good deal on the subject, 
and as it seemed to me that the adoration of spotting 
was like the adoration of the British Navy for mere 
dash and courage, I thought I would try an attack on 
both from a new direction. So I wrote an article, which 
was printed in the Naval Institute in March, 1908, called 



412 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

** Courage and Prudence," in which I pointed out the 
great value of courage in war, but also the fact that the 
greatest disasters in history had occurred because of 
lack of proper prudence. I led up from this to the 
advocacy of not only defensive methods, but also defen- 
sive construction, and pointed out that the greatest naval 
victory in history was that of the Monitor over the 
Merrimac, and that the Monitor's superiority over the 
Merrimac lay almost wholly in her defensive qualities. 

Among other measures, I suggested the idea of giving 
the captain better protection inside the conning-tower 
by abandoning the slits in the sides and giving him a 
small periscope, which would project through the roof. 
At the present day the captain does have such a periscope, 
and while slits have not been altogether abandoned, there 
is a good deal of evidence that they will be. 

Another plan that I suggested, which was wholly new, 
was to have a ''plotter" seated at a table, in a room 
below the water-line, and to place in front of him a plot- 
ting-board ''much like a plane-table," on which he would 
plot at intervals points representing the distance and 
direction of the target, according to information received 
from the range-finder-observers on deck. One sentence 
read: 

"Let the plotter continually connect the points estab- 
lished; and it is clear that the line resulting will repre- 
sent not the course and speed of the enemy ship, but 
its course and speed relative to our ship." 

A following sentence read: 

"As everybody would be behind armor, such work 
would not seem at all liable to error, due to excitement ; 
especially as no mental arithmetic would have to be car- 
ried on." 

This suggestion seemed to attract no attention at the 
time, but it was adopted in toto by the Navy Depart- 
ment fire-control board in 1910. It is the basis of our 
fire-control system now, though several very ingenious 
instruments have been invented and developed to carry 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 413 

it out. Among these is the *' Course Indicator," which 
is a slight (very slight) modification of my horizometer. 

In June, 1908, I published in the Naval Institute an 
article called ''Spotting and Range-Finding," in which 
I pointed out what seemed to me the folly of basing our 
target practice and gunnery wholly on the spotting done 
by unprotected observers aloft, and in which I wrote 
in one sentence, ''The use of protected range finders, 
supplemented during the opening stages of the battle by 
an observer aloft, is the only practical way of securing 
accurate sight bar ranges in battle." The article was 
illustrated with certain diagrams intended to point out 
that, while spotting was a necessary adjunct to fire con- 
trol in battle, it was inherently inaccurate, and should 
be used merely to rectify errors, and that the range- 
finder must be the real basis. In December, 1908, I pub- 
lished another article on the same subject, called, "A 
Curious Fact About Spotting," which was intended 
merely to reinforce the previous article. 

In March, 1908, I suddenly received orders to report 
the following day to the chief of the Bureau of Naviga- 
tion, and be prepared to testify before the Senate Naval 
Committee. I knew that the committee was investigating 
certain matters connected with the Navy Department, 
especially the armor attached to ships; but I could not 
see why I should be sent for, as it was not a subject to 
which I had given any attention. When I reported to 
the chief of the bureau, I was told that I probably would 
be before the committee several days, and that I was to 
be questioned in regard to several matters. I reported 
at the committee-room about noon. In the interim I was 
told by several officers that I would probably be before 
the committee several days, and advised to "give 'em 
h ." 

By the time I reached the committee-room I was in a 
complete state of bewilderment; but I had come to one 
conclusion, which was fairly clear, and that was that 
somebody was sending me there for some purpose of 



414 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

which I was ignorant, and that I had better be careful 
as to what I said. When I appeared before the com- 
mittee, the man who did most of the questioning was 
Senator Tillman. Most of his questions were along the 
lines of naval construction, and to most of them I an- 
swered, ''I don't know.'* I could see that something 
was going wrong, and that he was getting irritated. 
Finally he said: 

' * Do you mean to tell me that you are a captain in the 
navy and don 't know how high armor ought to be put on 
a ship?" 

''Yes, Senator." This seemed to irritate him still 
more, especially as a titter went up from some of the 
other members of the committee; so he said: 

' ' He does n 't know anything about naval things, any- 
how; he 's never been in a battle." 

''You forget the Battle of Manila, Senator. I was 
there," I objected. 

"Oh, that was not a battle; it was a murder on our 
side," exclaimed Mr. Tillman. 

"We incurred very little risk in that engagement," 
interposed Senator Hale. 

"We think that now as we look back at the battle," 
said I; "we didn't think so before the engagement." 

There was a pause in the proceedings then, and Sena- 
tor Hale, who was the presiding member, asked me to 
step outside, saying that he would call me later. 

I waited outside about an hour, and then sent in word 
that I should like to see Senator Hale. When he came 
out, I told him that my wife was very ill in New York, 
and as it was Saturday afternoon, I should like to go 
back to New York and appear again Monday morning in 
case the committee did not want me any more that after- 
noon. Senator Hale went into the committee-room, and 
soon came out again, saying that I might go to New 
York, and that the committee would let me know when 
they wanted me again. 

So I went to New York, expecting to be called back 



TURRET RANGE-FINDER 415 

very soon; because I liad been before the committee 
hardly ten minutes and I had been told that I would 
be before the committee several days. The summons to 
appear before the committee has not yet come. 

At the Philadelphia Navy-Yard I occupied the large 
house which the commandants ordinarily had occupied. 
The commandant at this time, however, preferred a 
smaller house on the river-front, and I found myself lord 
and master of a large, fine residence, which I occupied 
entirely alone, with two colored servants. The house 
was at the extreme northern end of the navy-yard, near 
the main gate, and on the brink of a large swamp. One 
night I was aroused from my slumbers by a heartrending 
sound, which I did not recognize at first, but which I 
gradually recognized, as my faculties returned to me, 
as that of a cow, and it seemed to be in great distress. 
The noise continued, and became so pitiful that I got out 
of bed and went down to the telephone, which was in the 
main hall, called up the sergeant of the guard, on duty 
on the gate near by, and told him to send a marine to 
me immediately. In less than a minute a marine ap- 
peared before me. He was out of breath from running, 
but he saluted with precision, and assumed the attitude 
of attention. I said to him : 

**I 've been wakened by that noise out there, and I 
wish you would tell the sergeant to see what is the cause 
of it. It sounds to me as if some cow had got caught in 
the swamp." The man, who was a private of marines, 
gazed at me with a most peculiar expression for a few 
seconds. Then an irrepressible grin spread over his 
face as he saluted and said: 

''Sir, that isn't a cow; that 's a bull-frog." 

As the spring wore on, my wife became gradually bet- 
ter, and I realized that the time was coming when I must 
leave her; but she was getting better so slowly that I 
realized also that I should have to leave her before she 
became completely well. So in the early part of June I 
went to Washington and told Rear-Admiral Pillsbury, 



416 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

who was then Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, that my 
wife 's health was now such that I was able to leave her, 
but that I should like to be given command of a ship 
near home. I said, however, that if such a command 
could not be given me, I should like to command one of 
the battle-ships of the fleet under Admiral Evans, which 
had started on its cruise around the world, and was then 
in the Pacific on the way to San Francisco. Pillsbury 
answered that there were to be a couple of vacancies in 
the commands in that fleet, but that they had already 
been provided for ; and that the only chance for me was 
the armored cruiser Tennessee, the captain of which, 
** Tommy Howard," was to be sent to command the 
Ohio. Of course I accepted the command of the Ten- 
nessee. 

In a few days I received orders detaching me from the 
Philadelphia Navy- Yard, and ordering me to proceed to 
San Francisco and take command of the Tennessee on 
July 7. 

My wife was now able to be moved, and on the thirtieth 
of June, I took her down to the Marlborough-Blenheim 
Hotel at Atlantic City, with a professional nurse and 
our daughter. The next morning I bade her good-by and 
left her. 

If any man thinks that it is pleasant to leave one 's wife 
ill in bed, while he starts on a two years' cruise, on a sta- 
tion three thousand miles away, let him try it. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

THE captain's CRUISE 

I LEFT New York in the afternoon of July 1, 1908, and 
made the same trip that I had made in December, 
1896. I reached San Francisco in the evening of July 5, 
and went to one of the most perfect hotels that I have 
ever known, the St. Francis. The Tennessee did not ar- 
rive until the following day. I reported on board to 
Rear-Admiral Sebree at two o'clock. In less than an 
hour from the time of my going on board, I was on the 
bridge in uniform, piloting the ship to an anchorage far- 
ther up the bay, where she was to take on coal. 

The Tennessee, while not a battle-ship in the technical 
sense, because her armor was not so thick as a battle- 
ship's, and because she had ten-inch guns instead of 
twelve-inch guns, was a captain's command in every 
sense. She was harder to handle than a battle-ship, be- 
cause of her greater length, and she carried more men 
than most of them, because she carried a greater number 
of guns and had more powerful engines. She was the 
flag-ship of the second division of the Pacific fleet, and 
carried the flag of Rear-Admiral Uriel Sebree. The fleet 
was composed of two divisions of armored cruisers, and 
was under the command of Rear-Admiral Swinburne, 
who commanded the first division as well as the fleet 
itself. 

After coaling, we proceeded to the navy-yard at Brem- 
erton, in the State of Washington. Bremerton is near 
Seattle, on Puget Sound, and is the site of a large navy- 
yard, which was established shortly after our Spanish 
War. 

I liked the Tennessee tremendously, but I saw that 

417 



418 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

my work was to be of an engrossing character. She had 
a splendid crew, which had been put into an excellent state 
of discipline and good humor by Captain Howard, whose 
strong common sense and unselfish character, combined 
with natural ability, has enabled him to make a success 
of every position he has occupied in the navy. Our trip 
north and through the magnificent Strait of San Juan de 
Fuca, was exhilarating; but I confess that I had a very 
cold feeling in the region of the stomach when I saw 
what a sharp turn I should have to make with the Te7i- 
nessee, and in what a narrow channel, when we should 
reach the bend near the navy-yard. Fortunately, I had 
become so thoroughly frightened by the time I reached 
the dreaded spot that I was able to make the turn per- 
fectly. I had to make that turn several times afterward 
during the course of the cruise, but I never did it better 
than I did the first time. This may seem strange when 
one realizes that I was handling a mass weighing 14,000 
tons, going through the water at a speed of sixteen knots, 
that I had never handled such a vessel before, and had 
never been within five hundred miles of the spot. Nat- 
urally, on subsequent occasions, I had much better knowl- 
edge of the ship, but, then, on those subsequent occasions 
my faculties were less stimulated than on the first oc- 
casion. Men differ in these matters very much. In my 
own case I have always noticed that I have played the 
first game of billiards or ten-pins or cards better than I 
have played the succeeding games. 

We found Bremerton a pleasant place in many ways. 
The scenery was magnificent and the climate fine, much 
warmer than that of San Francisco, although Bremerton 
is six hundred miles farther north. After a stay of about 
two months, during which we were subjected to many 
repairs and alterations, mostly on the fire-control sys- 
tem, we went to San Francisco, where all the Pacific fleet 
now gathered. 

The fleet was to go to Honolulu, then to Samoa, then 
back to Honolulu, and then to Mexico. We were to tow 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 419 

eight destroyers to Samoa, as a matter of practice and 
experiment, each ship towing one destroyer. 

We started for Honolulu one bright afternoon, and had 
a most successful trip, one that has become historical in 
the navy for the reason that no such large scale towing 
of destroyers had ever been attempted before. We 
reached Honolulu one beautiful morning, and let go our 
destroyers, which remained outside until the big ships 
had gotten alongside their docks. Local pilots came on 
board, and advised the captain of each ship as how best 
to manoeuver in the narrow waters of the harbor. After 
a short stay in a place which was still beautiful on shore, 
but of which the beautiful water-front and harbor had 
been utterly destroyed by civilization, we steamed our 
ships out to sea, took our destroyers in tow again, and 
started for the Samoan Islands. 

A rather pleasant, but warm, trip took us to Apia, the 
principal port of that part of the Samoan Islands that be- 
longed to Germany. We accomplished with perfect suc- 
cess our towing trip, which aggregated somewhat over 
five thousand sea miles, divided into two nearly equal 
parts. Occasionally the towing-line carried away be- 
tween a ship and her destroyer, but it was repaired in a 
short time and it did not happen to the Tennessee. The 
arrival at Apia of our eight ships, each towing a de- 
stroyer, and the fact that the trip had been accomplished 
at an average speed of about nine and a half knots, 
showed the practicability of such an attempt under the 
conditions which prevailed. The conditions which pre- 
vailed, however, had been extremely good, and the facts 
that destroyers are now about twice the size of those we 
towed, that the conditions which prevailed can be counted 
on in tropical climates only, and that no such undertaking 
has been made since, indicate that, after all, our trip had 
little value for the future. We had the idea in the fleet at 
that time that the real purpose of the trip was to get a 
considerable fighting force into the neighborhood of 
Japan. 



420 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Our stay at Apia was brief, but interesting. The scen- 
ery was beautiful in every way, and if it had not been for 
the extreme warmth and humidity of the climate, our stay 
would have been delightful. Some of us went to the 
home of Robert Louis Stevenson, in which he spent his 
latter days, and where he died. Most of us supposed 
that he had died of consumption; but we were informed 
that he died very suddenly one day from an attack of apo- 
plexy while in the act of preparing a salad. 

The commander-in-chief had gone with the first division 
to Pango-Pango, the principal port of that part of the 
Samoan Islands that belonged to the United States, while 
we of the second division had gone to Apia. On our way 
from Apia to Pango-Pango to join the commander-in- 
chief, we received a wireless message from him, direct- 
ing Admiral Sebree to anchor three of his ships in the 
harbor, but to direct the Tennessee to go alongside the 
dock. When I looked at the chart and saw how small the 
harbor was, and that I should have to make a sharp turn 
as soon as I entered the harbor, and go alongside a small 
dock, I thought that the time when I must make expiation 
for all my sins had come at last. I saw visions of the 
Tennessee going among the ships in the small harbor in 
the same way that a bowling-ball goes among a group of 
ten-pins, and then I saw a dock being crumpled up into 
small pieces, and the captain of the Tennessee being 
court-martialed. 

But, as has always happened to me when I have been 
thoroughly frightened, no mishap occurred. The Tennes- 
see went alongside that dock with as much apparent ease 
and quiet, and lack of backing and hauling on ropes, as if 
she had been a rowboat. 

We remained in Pango-Pango for about ten days. My 
friend and classmate, Jolm F. Parker, now a captain on 
the retired list, was governor, and he introduced us to the 
various high chiefs and other people in the best society 
of the place. Admiral Sebree had been governor there a 
few years before, and Parker detailed a native soldier to 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 421 

walk about at his heels as orderly, a procedure which 
Sebree had followed when he himself was governor. 

On the first night we were there Parker invited the ad- 
mirals and captains of the fleet to a dimier, at which were 
present Mrs. Parker and the officers stationed at Pango- 
Pango, with their wives. The governor's house stood on 
a high and beautiful hill, from which magnificent views 
could be had over long distances and in all directions 
when the weather was clear, but which were usually 
dimmed and shortened by the prevalent mists and rains. 
The ocean could be seen, except where high parts of the 
island shut it off, especially "White Face," a high moun- 
tain from which the natives thought all storms proceeded. 

On the second day a great feast was given to the officers 
and men. We gathered on a large plain, where roast pigs 
were being prepared. The ceremony of preparing the 
roast pigs was most important, and most exciting to the 
natives; for the reason that they live almost entirely on 
bananas, yams, and other vegetables, and meat is ex- 
tremely scarce. Being scarce, it was naturally prized. 
Roast pig in particular was prized, and deemed the very 
finest thing to eat that the world afforded. 

The officers of the fleet sat together, and near them, but 
somewhat apart, were the enlisted men, all of us in white. 
In a large outer circle was an immense concourse of 
native men, women, and children. Between the outer 
circle and the inner circle where we sat were the pigs, be- 
ing roasted under the direction of a principal chief. 
While the roasting was going on, other chiefs and great 
men of the tribes made speeches. I asked Parker what 
these speeches were about; and he told me that for the 
most part they described the beauty of the sunshine and 
the hills and the waters, and the power of the gods who 
control them. 

Finally the pigs were done, and portions were served to 
us on plates as we sat cross-legged on the turf. By this 
time the crowd had become much excited. Finally, when 
we had been all served, a signal was given, and there was 



422 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

a rush of the crowd toward the pigs. There was no fight- 
ing or disorder or any unpleasantness whatever; on the 
contrary, the crowd was extremely good-humored, but 
they did want roast pig. I have never seen such hunger 
or such unrestrained exhibitions of passion in a crowd as 
was shown by that crowd for that pig. 

The next afternoon we were given a war-dance. There 
was a large field, on the side of which were some benches. 
Admirals and captains were given seats on the front row 
of benches, and the officers and enlisted men sat on the 
benches behind. As we were walking up to the benches, 
some young women were brought up, and each of the cap- 
tains was introduced to one of them, and told that she 
would be his companion on the benches. Each of these 
young women took the right hand of her captain, and then 
we captains walked along, each of us holding the hand of 
his partner. I think we all acted our parts as if we were 
quite accustomed to that sort of thing, except Austin 
Knight, who was the captain of the Washington. Knight 
was a very dignified man, an extremely proper man in all 
his deportment and conversation and modes of thought, 
and probably that was the reason why he looked so silly 
as he was walking along, holding the hand of that girl. 

The war-dance was not a dance in our meaning of the 
word ; it was more like a procession. A number of men, 
probably more than a hundred, came toward us in gor- 
geous costumes, brandishing clubs, shouting, and singing 
but advancing, not at a walk or run, but by executing 
some curious steps. Meanwhile some women seated on 
the ground went through a so-called dance also, rising 
occasionally to their feet. It was noticeable that while 
they were seated on the ground the movements of their 
arms and of their bodies above the waist were very 
graceful; but that as soon as they got on their feet and 
began to use their legs and feet, they were extremely 
clumsy. 

We found the Samoans just what we had expected them 
to be, large, good-looking, simple, peaceful, and healthy. 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 423 

Comparatively few of them spoke English, and few of 
them showed any sign of the effects of civilization. One 
of their curious customs was that in every tribe there was 
a young unmarried woman (called, I think, a taipoo) who 
took the part of hostess of the tribe on occasions of cere- 
mony. She was usually the daughter of a chief, but not 
always so; and we were told that she was elected by the 
tribe because of her popularity, good looks, and, above all, 
good character. After having been elected to this posi- 
tion, she became a sort of ward of the tribe, and the tribe 
took it on itself to care for her in every way and to select 
a good husband for her from among the sons of the chiefs 
of other tribes. It was considered an honor for a man to 
be deemed worthy to marry a taipoo. 

The United States naval surgeon on duty there told me 
that the natives had a great deal of stomachic and in- 
testinal trouble, due to their having to eat so much fruit 
and vegetable food, in order to get sufficient nourishment ; 
and that he was getting splendid experience in abdominal 
surgery. ' ' Lo, the poor Indian ! ' ' 

We expected to find some colliers in Pango-Pango, sent 
there from Hampton Roads to coal us ; but when we got 
there, there were no colliers, and this alarmed us a little, 
because there was no coal in Pango-Pango, and we knew 
we could not get away without coal. The days went by, 
and still no coal. Meanwhile another steamer did not 
come in that had been expected before we had arrived, 
and on board of which was the chaplain of the station, 
with his wife, and the wife of one of the officers. We 
heard afterward that the steamer was wrecked on Christ- 
mas Island, twelve hundred miles northeast of us. In the 
days of anxiety that ensued there were many people who 
deplored the fact that there was not on the island of 
Pango-Pango any wireless telegraph. 

Finally one collier came in. Swinburne coaled the 
ships of the first division from it, and started for Hono- 
lulu with that division and four destroyers, telling Sebree 
to coal from the other collier and follow. The other col- 



424 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

lier came in shortly afterward, much to our relief, and we 
coaled as soon as possible. Finally, one warm afternoon, 
we extricated our ships from the narrow waters of Pango- 
Pango Bay, and stood out to sea, and then headed to the 
north; and we watched the fading from our view of 
thatched native huts and green fields and waving palms, 
and the white surf on the beach and the high moun- 
tains covered at the tops with clouds, the whole softened 
and dimmed by a driving tropical rain. 

Half-way to Honolulu we were struck by a violent gale, 
a comparatively rare thing in those parts. This made us 
uncomfortable in the big ships for a couple of days, but it 
made the people in the destroyers ten times more uncom- 
fortable. I have never had service in a destroyer myself, 
and so I have never been able to understand how a living 
human being can endure being battered and hammered 
as one is in a destroyer. 

When we got to Honolulu, the pilot who was to take the 
Tennessee did not appear. My recollection is that I was 
told that he had been stricken with leprosy. I was very 
sorry for any man who was stricken with leprosy; but I 
was not so sorry for him at that minute as I was for my- 
self when I realized that I should have to take the ship 
alongside the dock without any guide, counselor, and 
friend. Fortunately, my attention had been very much 
on the alert when I had gone alongside the dock before, 
with the pilot on the bridge, and I was able to get along- 
side just as well without him. After that I always took 
the ship alongside of docks without any pilot, and most of 
the other captains did the same. A few days after that I 
had to shift the ship to a dock farther up the harbor. 
This circumstance did not bother me much until the time 
came to leave, and the pilot did not appear. Rather than 
wait for him then, I determined to take the ship out with- 
out his assistance, and I was able to do so in such a way as 
to receive the loudly expressed approbation of Admiral 
Sebree. 

We started from Honolulu about the middle of Novem- 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 425 

ber to go to Magdalena Bay in Lower California, Mexico, 
for the fleet's annual target-practice. Before going to 
Samoa, we had received from the department the rules 
that were to govern the target-practice ; and I saw at once 
that they were most unfair for the Tennessee and Wash- 
ington, because we were made to fire at longer distances 
and at higher speeds than the other armored cruisers. 
After reading the rules carefully, I saw that they must 
have been written by some one who did not have a clear 
understanding of the relations of range and speed to the 
probability of hitting a target. I pointed this out to 
Knight, who was interested as much as I in having the 
Tennessee and the Washington stand high on the list 
showing the order of excellence of the ships in target 
practice ; and I suggested to him that he and I write a let- 
ter of protest, based on the scientific principles of gun- 
nery. Knight agreed with me that I was correct, but he 
declined to join in a protest. At first I decided to make a 
protest myself; but I realized that it would do no good 
for one man out in Samoa to write a letter of protest to 
Washington. I then decided to write an article for the 
Naval Institute, and to call it ''A Fair Basis for Competi- 
tion in Battle Practice." This article was published in 
the Naval Institute in December, 1908. It discussed the 
subject mathematically, proved how utterly unfair and 
unscientific the rules governing the target-practice were, 
and made certain recommendations as to what ought to 
be done in the future. The article was, of course, too 
late to do any good at the time, but most of its recom- 
mendations were carried out the following year. 

We arrived at Magdalena Bay in due time, and went 
through a course of preliminary practice. I think naval 
officers agree that Magdalena Bay has the best climate of 
any place in the world. It is warm, but not hot, and it 
has good weather virtually all the while. Some time be- 
fore we got to Magdalena Bay, Admiral Swinburne's staff 
made out the program of drills and exercises which we 
should follow, and we were able to carry it out without a 



426 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

single change. I was interested to see that Magdalena 
Bay corroborated my theory that in places where there is 
a good climate nobody wishes to live; for there was al- 
most nobody whatever living anywhere near the beautiful 
and healthful precincts of Magdalena Bay. 

In training the officers and crew of the Tennessee, ag- 
gregating nearly one thousand men, for target practice, I 
laid great stress on getting the correct range ; and I was 
fortunate in finding two midshipmen, Frank Russell and 
Augustin Beauregard, who were of the proper material 
from which to make good range-finder observers. They 
were both young men of that peculiar nervous organiza- 
tion that makes one a good marksman with the musket. 
Russell, in particular, became exceedingly expert and ex- 
ceedingly reliable. This latter quality was due in great 
measure to his extraordinary ability to retain his pres- 
ence of mind in all circumstances. If I were asked to 
mention the man who seems to me to possess the faculty 
of presence of mind to a greater degree than anybody else 
I have ever known, I should unhesitatingly reply, * ' Frank 
Russell." He is now a lieutenant-commander. 

While alongside the dock at the navy yard at Bremer- 
ton, it had occurred to me that the principal difficulty with 
the range-finder was the fact that its zero, or initial 
point, became displaced principally because of a minute 
bending of the instrument ; and that it would be easy to 
make a correction for this by sighting the range-finder at 
two vertical lines that were as far apart as the two object- 
glasses. In the range-finder used then, these object- 
glasses were fifty-four inches apart ; so I had Mr. Russell 
have a board prepared in which there were two vertical 
lines exactly 54 inches apart. After this had been pre- 
pared, I sent it off to a distance of about five hundred 
yards, and had Mr. Russell try to correct his range-finder 
by it. The attempt was an absolute success. Realizing 
the advantage this would be in our fleet drills and target 
practice, I called it to the attention of Admiral Sebree, 
and he had a range-finder corrector made for each ship. 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 427 

Then I wrote an article for the Naval Institute, which ap- 
peared in September, 1908, called **To Adjust Range- 
finders before Battle," in which both the theoretical and 
practical parts of the plan were described. The text of 
this article was published by the Navy Department on 
February 6, 1909, as *' Special Order No. 5," and a letter 
was sent to me from the department expressing its appro- 
bation, and stating that a copy of that letter would be 
placed on my record in the department. 

Admiral Swinburne had range-finder correctors made 
for all the ships of his fleet; and so did the commander-in- 
chief of the Atlantic fleet on the recommendation of lieu- 
tenant-commander (now Captain) Ridley McLean, who 
was the fleet gunnery-officer. These correctors were 
found to be of great value, and did a great deal to con- 
vince the navy of the practicability of accurate range-find- 
ing. They continued in use for only a few years, how- 
ever, because a better plan was brought forward by 
range-finder manufacturers, whereby the zero could be 
corrected by means inside of the range-finder itself. 

On the day of day-target-practice I carried out the rules 
of the practice, of course ; but I had Russell make range- 
finder measurements all the time, and I had a man record 
his observations. After the practice was over, Russell 
and I went over the records carefully, and we concluded 
that the ship would have hit the target oftener than it did 
if we had used the range-finder indications entirely and 
disregarded altogether the observations of the spotters. 

On the night target practice a target was anchored at 
some place which was known to the firing ship only ap- 
proximately, and the firing ship was to advance toward it 
and try to pick it up with its search-lights. It was neces- 
sary to pick up the target at a great distance, because, 
if a ship began firing at too short a distance, the record 
which she made would be ''penalized"; that is, a certain 
proportion of it would be subtracted. Advancing toward 
the target on the night we had to fire, I had Russell at the 
range-finder, not far above my head, as I stood on the 



428 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

bridge. Knight was standing on the bridge near me in 
order to get points which would help him when his ship 
came to fire on the following night. We were going nine- 
teen knots, and the ship was trembling all over, and the 
wind was making a great deal of noise, and the foam was 
being dashed up by our bow. I could see nothing in the 
darkness ahead except the lights of the West Virginia, 
which was anchored somewhere on our port bow. 
Finally the target became visible under the rays of the 
searchlight. Our men were at the guns ; everything was 
ready; everything was at tension. I waited in great ex- 
citement for Russell to sing out the range, but not a sound 
did he make. The minutes passed, and we were getting 
closer and closer to the target at the rate of nineteen knots 
an hour. Finally I could stand it no longer, and called 
up, ''What is the range, Russell?" Not a sound in reply. 
''What is the range, Russell?" Not a sound. Again 
and again I called, "What is the range?" Finally came 
the answer, perfectly clear and cool and slow, but giving a 
range which I realized at once was too short to make it 
wise for me to fire. 

I saw instantly that I must get the ship off the range 
course, and steam away and come back and try it again. 

"Starboard," I ordered. 

"Starboard, sir," answered the quartermaster. The 
ship's bow began slowly to move to the left in the dark- 
ness toward the lights of the West Virginia, which I saw 
were closer than I had supposed. 

"Do you think she will make it. Quartermaster?" 

"I don't know, sir," was the reply. 

"Port," I ordered. 

"Port," was the answer. 

"Back the starboard engine." 

"Back the starboard engine, sir," 

But our bow continued to swing farther and farther 
to the left, closer and closer to the direction of the West 
Virginia, while we tore through the water with unabated 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 429 

speed. I did not know exactly how far away she was ; but 
I saw that if she were as close as she might be, nothing 
now could prevent the Tennessee from striking her fair 
on the starboard side, and cutting her literally in two. 
Finally, the Tennessee stopped swinging to the left, and 
then began to swing to the right, and I knew that the 
danger was past. In half a minute more I had the satis- 
faction of leaving behind our port beam the lights of a 
ship carrying nearly a thousand men, some of whom I 
could hear talking and laughing and singing about the 
decks. This episode stands out with more painful dis- 
tinctness than any other in my memory. 

After the records of that target practice were made by 
the Navy Department, the Tennessee stood number eight 
in the list of nearly thirty ships, a most honorable stand- 
ing considering the fact that we had been unfairly handi- 
capped. 

My continued insistence on the use of the range-finder 
was regarded as an eccentricity, and was a source of con- 
siderable innocent merriment among the officers of the 
ship. On Christmas day the wardroom gave a Christmas 
dinner, and invited the captain, as wardrooms usually do 
on Christmas day. Toward the end of the dinner Assist- 
ant-Surgeon Kaufman read a "poem," which was the 
joint work of the two poets of the mess. Dr. Kaufman and 
Lieutenant Ralston Holmes, Sebree's flag-secretary. 
The poem was as follows : 

"THE CAPTAIN OF THE CRUISER TENNESSEE 

" The air was full of whizzing shell, 
From the enemy on the lee; 
In fact, the atmosphere felt like hell 
On the bridge of the Tennessee. 
And the cruiser captain's brow was hot, 
And he used words loud and strange, 
As he called aloft to the fighting-top 
To find out the latest range. 



430 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

" Then the cruiser captain's right-hand man, 
The cruiser's range-finder lad, 
Said he had the range when the fight began, 
But the fog made his readings bad. 
And the cruiser's captain thought awhile, 
And he sent for his glass and a log, 
And divided a pint by a cubic mile, 
And measured the range through the fog. ' ' 

We left Magdalena Bay about the middle of November 
and started for the port of Lota, near the southern end of 
Chile. On the way down we stopped at Panama. The 
construction of the Panama Canal was about half done, 
and many of the officers and men took the trip to Colon 
and back. I was among these, and we found the trip in- 
teresting in the highest possible degree. We had never 
seen civil engineering works of such magnitude, and we 
had never seen any kind of work carried on with better 
evidences of foresight and understanding. It did not 
seem to us as evidencing any special genius, but as evi- 
dencing perfectly that splendid efficiency and complete- 
ness that is characteristic of military work in general, 
and was characteristic of the work which Colonel Goethals 
was doing in particular. The atmosphere was military ; 
everything was clean, precise, orderly, and energetic. 

I found Colon enormously changed from the Colon of 
my previous visits. Instead of disorder, sickness, dirt, 
and a general air of misery and desperation, there were 
order, health, cleanliness, and a general air of happiness 
and hope. To our amazement, we even saw boys playing 
baseball. We were even able to find a restaurant and get 
a good, clean lunch. 

From Panama we went to Lota, skirting the coast fairly 
close all the way down, and indulging in numerous tactical 
drills in the forenoons and afternoons. The Tennessee, 
as flag-ship of the second division, had perhaps the most 
difficult part in the exercises ; so that I was much gratified 
when the following wireless telegraph message was re- 
ceived at the end of one day's drills: 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 431 

For Sebree: Congratulate you on your flagship's good work. 
When we all get up to her standing, we can make drills shorter. 

Swinburne. 

While in Panama I had had rigged over our stern an 
automatic device that showed to the ship astern, both by 
day and night, the exact position of our rudder. This 
was found to be of great assistance by the ship astern in 
regulating her owj;i movements. Naturally, I was much 
pleased with its success, and I devised another arrange- 
ment whereby we could automatically show also the speed 
and direction at which our engines were moving. Before 
I started on this, however, I wrote an official letter to the 
department, reporting the success of my rudder indicator, 
and my letter received the favorable indorsement of both 
Admiral Sebree and Admiral Swinburne. The reply of 
the department was an order to take it out of the ship im- 
mediately. I did so, and abandoned at the same time the 
idea of my engine-indicator. 

Lota is the center of the coal-region of Chile and the 
site also of the principal Chilean naval station. Our stay 
was pleasant. One of the places of interest was the estate 
of Senora Cousino, who owned the coal-mines, but lived 
most of the time in Paris. Lunch was served to the of- 
ficers one afternoon in the beautiful grounds of her estate, 
and afterward we walked through her picture-galleries. 
Many of the paintings were extremely large and ex- 
tremely good, and represented events in the times of the 
conquest of South America by the Spaniards. Some of 
the pictures were exciting. One represented a woman 
dashing out the brains of a child against a tree, saying, as 
the story ran, that she would not be the mother of the 
son of a coward. I think the husband was a chief who 
yielded to the Spaniards more readily than the wife 
thought he should have done. 

We were told that at this time there was trouble be- 
tween the workmen in the navy-yard and the Chilean Gov- 
ernment. We were told that it was a common practice 



432 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

for workmen to become so drunk on Sunday that they 
could not go to work on Monday, and that the workmen 
regarded this practice as so natural and proper that they 
resented a plan which they heard the Government was go- 
ing to enforce, of cutting off their Monday pay if they did 
not work on Monday. We were told that the Government 
had not up to that time reduced their pay when the work- 
men were absent on Mondays, but that the workmen heard 
that the Government intended to do so, and that they were 
expressing their indignation most emphatically. I never 
heard how the incident ended. 

From Lota the fleet steamed north, Swinburne taking 
the first division to Valparaiso, and Sebree taking the 
second division to Coquimbo. On the evening of Janu- 
ary 20, 1909, as I was finishing my dinner in the custom- 
ary solitude of a captain's cabin, the orderly reported to 
me that there was a fire on shore. Going on deck, I joined 
Admiral Sebree, who had just arrived there. He ordered 
me to send a signal to the four ships to send their fire- 
brigades on shore immediately. After giving the neces- 
sary orders on board the Tennessee, I told the admiral 
that I thought it would be a good plan to put the four 
fire-brigades under one officer, and I asked his permission 
to go ashore and assume the entire command. 

He assented at once, and in a few minutes I was steam- 
ing ashore in his barge. While captain of the yard in 
Philadelphia, I had been in charge of all the fire-drills, 
and the experience I gained then was a great value to me 
this night. When I landed at the dock, I found that the 
fire-brigades of the four ships were already ashore, and 
that they were gathered around a large wooden hotel 
which was burning like a match. The hotel stood on the 
plaza of the town, and on this plaza a good deal of furni- 
ture, taken out of the hotel, had been piled. Following 
my practice at the Philadelphia Navy-yard, I had a sailor 
follow me carrying a large American flag. It was now 
dark, but the flames of the burning hotel were so bright 
that I was quickly recognized, and found no difficulty in 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 433 

assuming entire control. I threw a cordon of marines 
and sailors around the hotel at once to keep off the crowd, 
and I put small detachments in the various houses near by 
to prevent looting. I saw at once that the fire depart- 
ment of the town could accomplish little, not only because 
they were insufficient in numbers, but because the training 
and uniforms of the bomberos, or firemen, seemed to have 
been directed almost wholly to spectacular effect. 

After making these dispositions, which required only 
a few minutes, I turned my attention to the hotel itself ; 
and what was my amazement to see on the roof of the 
hotel, under which a fierce fire was raging and threaten- 
ing to bring down the roof at any minute, tjtie stalwart 
figure of Lieutenant-Commander Charles F. Hughes and 
some sailors from the Washington. Of course Hughes 
had no business to be in such a place as that because it 
was only a matter of a short time when the roof would 
fall into the fire below, and carry with it anybody who 
happened to be on top. Realizing the peril in which 
Hughes and his men were, I determined to go to the roof 
myself and give him my orders in person. The hotel was 
only three stories high, and a long ladder extended to the 
roof from the street. "When I started to go up this 
ladder, I had a dim consciousness that there were a good 
many men yelling at me, but I could not hear what they 
said. One reason why I could not hear was the great 
noise going on, and the other was the extreme difficulty I 
had in mounting the ladder. The latter was so long and 
so light, that my endeavors to mount it made it act like a 
spring, and I had a curious feeling while going up that 
ladder that I must be presenting a ridiculous appearance. 
Finally, after a time which seemed to me unduly long, I 
arrived on the roof, and encountered a heat that was most 
uncomfortable, and a general atmosphere of tension. 
Hughes and the men with him had some wet clothes which 
they had wrapped around their heads, and they were try- 
ing to shove some pieces of hose through a hole in the 
roof and throw water down on the fire below. The im- 



434 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

possibility of putting out the fire, and the urgency of get- 
ting those men otf of the roof before they fell into the fire, 
were so great, that the orders which I gave to Hughes 
were not only emphatic in the tone employed, but, I fear, 
deplorable in the language in which they were expressed. 

We were not able to save the hotel, but we were able to 
keep the fire from spreading. There was a brisk breeze 
blowing that night, and if it had not been for the prompt 
and effective action of our sailors, a large portion of 
Coquimbo would have been destroyed. The fire depart- 
ment of the town was neither large enough nor well 
trained enough to do much good, and the people of the 
town became so excited that they could render no assist- 
ance. 

I had no serious mishaps that evening, though I had 
one or two narrow escapes. A ridiculous misadventure 
happened to me when a wall near by began to fall. Some 
Chilean threw his arms around me, shouting, ^'Oh, Com- 
mandante/' and jerked me backward with such violence 
as to throw me on the ground into a pile of dirt and rub- 
bish. The only practical result of this was that I lost a 
pretty sleeve-button that I had worn in my cuff. 

We had an exciting time for about three hours, and a 
number of the officers and men of the squadron, especially 
Lieutenant-Commander C. F. Hughes, behaved with great 
gallantry. I made an official report of the facts to Se- 
bree, recommending a few for letters of commendation. 
Sebree mentioned them all and me besides, and we all got 
good complimentary letters, which were placed on our rec- 
ords in the department. One paragraph in my letter 
read: 

The report [of Admiral Sebree] states that the work under 
your direction was promptly and efficiently done, and had it 
not been for the timely and valuable assistance rendered, a large 
portion of the northern part of Coquimbo would probably have 
been destroyed. The able and thorough manner in which you 
directed the working details on shore, and the absence of con- 
fusion or undue excitement, together with the fact that your 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 435 

duties often required your presence in dangerous positions, 
merits and receives the Department's hearty commendation. 

In January, 1909, 1 published in the Ncuval Institute an 
article called '^A Simple Electric Steering Gear." In 
this article I pointed out the great advantages that elec- 
tricity would have over steam if it were not for the diffi- 
culty, which up to that time had been found insuperable, 
of using the *' floating-lever" principle in electric mechan- 
ism, although the floating-lever principle was easily 
utilized in steam mechanism. I recounted the troubles 
that I had met in attempting it — troubles which I had 
found so great that, although I held the basic patent on 
mechanism which adapted the floating-lever to electric 
mechanism, I had never been able to make it work suc- 
cessfully; neither had the General Electric Company and 
neither had the Navy Department. The Navy Depart- 
ment had made a serious effort by trying to adapt it to 
the steering of the monitor Arkansas when I commanded 
that vessel. Before writing the article, I had discon- 
nected the floating lever from the steam steering-gear of 
the Tennessee, and had the quartermaster steer the ship 
without it for more than an hour. As a result of that trial, 
I had become satisfied that it was perfectly feasible to 
abandon the floating-lever principle, but that it would be 
hard for men accustomed to the floating lever to steer a 
ship without it until they had learned how; and so, at the 
end of my article I suggested the possibility of using a 
simple electric steering-gear. One sentence ran, ''Why 
not have a simple controller, like those in all our trolley- 
cars and ships which we all know how to use?" I be- 
lieve this idea has been carried out recently in some of our 
new ships. 

About this time my attention was attracted to an ex- 
tremely able article in Lord Brassey^s Naval Annual for 
1906, which had escaped my attention. It was written by 
Commander Charles N. Robinson, R. N., and was called, 
* * The Gunnery Practice of the Fleet. ' ' 



436 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The chapter was largely historical, and began by re- 
citing an Admiralty circular, dated January 31, 1906, in 
which their lordships expressed great satisfaction with 
the gunnery practice of 1905, and attributed the success- 
ful results mostly to ''The great interest and keen spirit 
displayed by officers and men, the general introduction 
and use of additional instructional appliances, and the im- 
proved system of gunnery training now in operation. ' ' 

Commander Robinson said of this memorandum ''It 
marks indeed the beginning of a new era in the conditions 
and aspects of naval gunnery." 

I should like to quote the whole of this interesting chap- 
ter, because I can hardly show otherwise how perfectly its 
writer was convinced that the excellent gunnery of that 
time was due wholly to a certain system of training faith- 
fully carried out, for which the entire credit belonged to 
the British Navy, led by Admiral Sir Percy Scott. The 
letter went into detail as to the improvements that had 
gone on, and led up to the fact that on the target practice 
of the Scylla, the captain of that ship, Sir Percy Scott, 
"Had struck out a line of his own." 

Naturally this letter irritated me a great deal. As a 
result, I wrote an article for the Naval Institute, called 
"The Invention and Development of the Naval Telescope 
Sight," which appeared in June, 1909. One paragraph 
read as follows : 

The present writer has no desire to rob the British Navy of 
any of the credit which it justly merits for the marked improve- 
ment in naval gunnery during the past few years; neither has 
he any desire to rob Sir Percy Scott of any credit that he has 
received; because he has received no more credit than he de- 
serves. All the praise that Sir Percy Scott has received, and 
all the official commendations, promotions and decorations that 
he and the officers whom he inspired have received, both in the 
British Navy and in other navies, have been justly earned. But, 
nevertheless, the present writer believes that he can prove that 
the credit for the accurate naval gunnery of the present day 
does not primarily belong to the British Navy, but to the Ameri- 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 437 

can Navy; and that the naval gunnery of today did not have 
its birth on board the H. M. S. Scylla, on the Mediterranean Sta- 
tion, at some time after 1898, but on board the U. S. S. York- 
town, at Unalaska, on September 22, 1892. 

I then gave a history of the invention and development 
of the sight, with illustrations of the earlier forms, and 
diagrams of the results of the earlier target practice in 
1892 and 1894. The article closed with the following 
paragraphs : 

Returning to the article in Brassey that seems to have been 
written under the impression that ' ' the new gunnery ' ' originated 
elsewhere than in the American Navy, it may be pointed out 
that the American Navy was the first to adopt, not only the 
naval telescope sight, but also the electrical range indicator. 
The first ship to be equipped with electrical range indicators 
was the U. S. S. San Francisco, which had an experimental set, 
consisting of one transmitter and two receivers. The test lasted 
one year, from July 1893, till July 1894. The test was success- 
ful, the electrical range indicator was adopted, and in June 
1896, the U. S. S. Cincinnati, Maine, Texas, Indiana, Massachu- 
setts and Oregon had been equipped with them throughout. 
The multiple principle of the range indicator then used is still 
employed; though the form of the instruments has materially 
changed. 

That the success of the naval telescope sight and electrical 
range indicator in our navy was known to foreign navies be- 
fore 1898, is suggested by the facts that it could not possibly 
have been kept secret, and that descriptions and drawings of 
both, with a statement of the success achieved, were published in 
the Naval Institute in June 1896. 

Referring again to the impression evidenced in the article in 
Brassey that the new gunnery originated elsewhere than in the 
American Navy, it may be pointed out that the first ship to 
use fire control from aloft in battle was the U. S. S. Petrel, at 
the battle of Manila May 1, 1898. 

This article attracted a good deal of attention from the 
public press, the scientific magazines, and the army and 
navy publications. It was a distinct challenge, and yet 



438 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

not one word of objection to the statements and claims 
which it embodied have I ever seen in print or writing or 
heard expressed orally by any person. 

In February, 1909, the monthly pilot chart issued by 
the United States Hydrographic Office, and used by the 
mariners of all nations, had printed on its back a full 
description of my method of *' Navigating without 
Horizon," which I had described in the Naval Institute 
in September, 1907. In speaking of this. The Army and 
Navy Journal said, in its issue of February 27, 1909, 
*'The authoritative publishing of this method brings it to 
the attention of mariners the world over ; and the method 
seems to be a permanent addition to- nautical science 
which will last as long as men go down to the sea in 
ships. It reflects credit on our entire navy as well as on 
Captain Fiske. " 

The Navy Department wrote me a letter of commenda- 
tion for inventing and developing this system and had the 
letter placed on my record in the department. 

From Coquimbo we went to Callao, Peru, joining the 
flag of the commander-in-chief before arriving, so that 
the fleet anchored together behind the island of San 
Lorenzo. Some years before, the story ran, a British and 
an American ship were anchored in the harbor, and the 
captain and officers of the British ship had what now 
would be called a very *'wet dinner" on board the Ameri- 
can ship, a most hazardous thing to do for the Britishers, 
because the ship was to go to sea at midnight. Whenever 
a ship is at anchor, it has a white light hoisted forward. 
In the days before electric lights were put into ships, this 
light was lowered when the ship got under way. From 
some oversight this was not done that night, and the cap- 
tain, seeing the light of his own ship ahead, and thinking 
that it was the light on the island of San Lorenzo, gave 
the order, ''Port." The ship's bow moved to the right; 
but so did the light. ''Hard aport!" ordered the cap- 
tain. "Hard aport," replied the quartermaster; but the 
more the ship 's bow moved to the right, the more the light 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 439 

moved to the right. The story is that the ship circled 
round the harbor three times, until some one hauled down 
the light. 

One morning Captain Cottman and I walked from 
Callao to Lima. Cottman was the captain of the Cali- 
fornia. The walk was not very delightful or interesting, 
and so we amused ourselves by trying to talk Spanish to 
the natives. If one talks a foreign language, even not 
very well, with an educated person, that educated person 
will probably understand a great part of what he says ; 
but if one talks with an uneducated person, he finds much 
more difficulty in making himself understood. Perhaps 
this was the reason that we did not make ourselves well 
understood; however, we did not succeed very well, but 
each of us extracted considerable satisfaction from seeing 
what poor success the other one had, and in calling his at- 
tention to the fact. 

On the way up to Lima I told Cottman my experience 
in noting that the plaza always looked the same, no mat- 
ter at what time of year I had gone there, and I described 
to Cottman the way the plaza would look. When we ar- 
rived there, the plaza looked exactly as I had predicted. 
There was the same dim sunlight, the same gentle breeze, 
the same pale-blue sky, and the same handsome cathe- 
dral; and it seemed almost that the same priests and 
nuns, and mantilla-covered women and swarthy Spanish- 
American gentlemen and Peruvian Indians were walking 
about that I had always seen there before. 

Cottman and I were hungry after our walk, and we en- 
joyed our lunch at the hotel extremely. Toward the close 
of lunch, I said : 

' * Let 's have another pint of that Spanish wine ; I think 
it 's pretty good." 

*'I won't take another drop," said Cottman. ''I have 
had a little too much already. I know that, because I 
want to smoke. I can always tell when I have had enough 
to drink by that sign." 

The two divisions separated shortly afterward. The 



440 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

second division, going north, stopped at a number of the 
ports on the west coast of Central America. The most in- 
teresting place was Costa Rica, because it was the most 
distinctive and the best. The forenoon after we an- 
chored, the governor came off to the ship with a large 
number of men and a few women. About a dozen were 
asked into the admiral's cabin, and I was asked in to help 
entertain them. Sebree supplied champagne and cigars. 
They all took some champagne, but very few took cigars. 
I expressed my surprise to one of the gentlemen who 
spoke English very well, as they all did ; and he made an 
answer which surprised me greatly. It was to the effect 
that, while most Spanish-Americans smoked a great deal, 
the Costa Ricans of the educated class smoked hardly at 
all, because they had been taught in school that it was not 
good for men to smoke. He added that the lower classes, 
however, smoked like other Spanish- Americans. 

Costa Rica was evidently a real democracy. When the 
party left, some went in our steam launch, and some in 
the sailing-launch, which was towed by it. I expected, of 
course, that the governor would go in the steam launch, 
and sit in comfort on the cushions in the stern. But he 
declined to do this, and got into the sailing-launch with the 
greater part of his company. 

The governor invited Captain Knight and me to go 
ashore one afternoon and see the town. We were glad to 
do this, although we knew that the act of getting out of 
the boat on to the dock would be one requiring consider- 
ably agility and loss of dignity, because the water was 
always extremely rough at the dock. We passed the or- 
deal in safety, however, and spent one of the most inter- 
esting afternoons, we both agreed, we had ever spent. 
This was not because of any magnificence of natural 
scenery, or any beauty or splendor in the town; but on 
account of the character of the people and their view of 
life. For instance, in speaking of the President of Costa 
Rica, the people we met did not speak of him as a man of 



THE CAPTAIN'S CEUISE 441 

great ability or shrewdness or political skill; but as a 
good man, and a man who did everything he could for the 
people of Costa Rica. As we walked through the streets, 
the people who met the governor greeted him pleasantly, 
but not at all obsequiously; they greeted him as a man 
whom they esteemed and liked, much as one greets a 
bishop. The things which the Costa Rican gentlemen 
pointed out to us as the objects of interest were the 
schools and other public works, such as hospitals, 
churches, etc. At one time I said to the governor as we 
were walking through the town: ''Where were you born, 
sir?" 

' ' Right here, ' ' he said, striking his knuckles against a 
brick house, *'I was born right in this very house." 

A pleasant cruise north, in which the fleet was exercised 
a great deal at all sorts of tactical drills, brought us to 
San Francisco. 

"Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself has said, 
When home his footsteps he has turned, 
From wandering on a foreign strand, 
This is my own, my native land?" 

How good it was to get back to God's country again, 
and to be with people of one's own kind, who spoke his 
own language and had the same cast of features ! How 
beautiful San Francisco looked ! How inspiring was the 
outline of the mountains against the sky, and how splen- 
did were the sunsets behind Mount Tamalpais ! 

After a brief stay in San Francisco, the second division 
went north to the Bremerton navy yard for repairs and 
alterations, especially in the fire-control system. 

Only two incidents of the trip made much impression on 
my memory. One was getting under way in the narrow 
harbor of Port Townsend about one o 'clock in the morn- 
ing, and leading the division out of the harbor. The 
other was making that turn of the bend near the navy 



442 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

yard and then going alongside the dock. I conducted 
all three operations successfully, however, and got the 
ship tied up just before noon. 

I treated myself to a glass of wine at lunch that day, 
and I stretched my legs out under the table and leaned 
back in my chair with the pleasant feeling that I had 
passed successfully the first half of the most difficult 
ordeal a naval officer has to pass, his ''captain's cruise." 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE captain's CRUISE 

Second Year 

MY wife was much better by this time, which was the 
month of June, and she and my daughter joined me 
shortly after the ships reached the navy yard. I had a 
pleasant suite engaged for them at the Hotel Sorrento. 
The Sorrento proved to be one of the pleasantest hotels 
we had ever lived in. One of its delightful features was 
the large dining-room in the upper story, from the win- 
dows of which magnificent views could always be had in 
the daytime of blue waters and distant mountains, of 
which the peaks sometimes stood out sharp and clear, 
and sometimes were shrouded in dense, white clouds. 

Most of the work to be done on the Tennessee's fire- 
control system was in the direction of assuring the ability 
of the ship to fight in case of the disablement of the con- 
ning'-tower. I had become much impressed, as most 
naval officers had, with the extreme vulnerability of the 
conning-tower, and also with the liability of the captains 
and others in the conning-tower to be disabled by smoke 
and by fragments of all kinds coming through the slits in 
the conning-tower ; but I went further than anybody else 
in proposing a remedy. 

My remedy was to abolish the slits altogether, and to 
have the people in the conning-tower use periscopes, pro- 
jecting upward through the top of the tower. I even 
went to the extreme of advocating there be no mechanism 
whatever inside the conning-tower; because it could be 
easily disabled, and because, if it were disabled, the ship 
would be helpless. I advocated steering the ship and 
giving orders to the engine-rooms from stations below 

443 



444 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

deck; one station being in the communication-room di- 
rectly below the co«nning-tower, and the other station 
being at the extreme after-en'd of the ship, in the steering 
engine-room. 

I had had this idea in my mind for years, and had made 
several experiments which had satisfied me of its practi- 
cability. One day when I was captain of the Minneapolis 
I had handled the ship for more than an hour going down 
Chesapeake Bay at high speed by simply telephoning to 
the steering engine-room, and telling the quartermaster 
how to move his steering-wheel. On another occasion, 
while in Magdalena Bay, I had got the Tennessee under 
way, and had steamed out from her place in the column 
into the bay and manoeuvered for over an hour there, by 
the same means. One difficulty I encountered was the 
fact that the quartermaster in the steering engine-room 
had no good means of telling how to steer a straight 
course, for the reason that the compass was very sluggish. 
The reason for its being sluggish was that it was entirely 
inclosed by the steel structure of the ship, which, though 
it was thin at that part of the ship, acted, nevertheless, 
like a magnetic shield, and prevented some of the mag- 
netic lines of force from reaching the compass. While at 
Bremerton, however, I succeeded in finding a place in the 
steering engine-room, where the magnetic field was 
pretty strong, and where the compass would work fairly 
well. The place was not close enough to permit a good 
view of it from the steersman's place at the steering- 
wheel, but I was able to overcome this trouble by a simple 
combination of a mirror and a lens. 

The invention and development of the gyroscopic com- 
pass, for which Mr. Elmer Sperry has done more than 
anybody else, has overcome this difficulty altogether, be- 
cause a gyroscopic compass does not depend on mag- 
netism at all, and is directed at the true north instead of 
at the magnetic north. For these reasons, and because of 
the development of the periscope, all the schemes which I 
was trying in the Minneapolis and Tennessee are very 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 445 

much better carried out now. At the present time my 
methods, as then carried out, seem rather crude ; but this 
is the fate of all pioneer work. Robert Fulton and James 
Watt were poor engineers, judged by modern standards. 

Human progress is a groping thing, and advances in a 
jerky way, mostly by the efforts of only a few men. 
These men take the first steps, and if the first steps lead 
toward success, then many men follow them. "C'est le 
premier pas qui coute" (*'It is the first step that costs"), 
and the man whom it costs is the man who makes the step. 
The man who makes that first step is apt to lose his foot- 
ing and hurt himself; the men who follow, see that the 
first step is practicable, and they see also where it should 
have been directed a little more to the left or the right or 
not quite so far or a little farther. It is these men who 
^'profit" by the first steps, and not the men who make 
them. It is the Henry Fords and not the Robert Fultons 
who ''succeed." 

One of the first things the officers had to do after reach- 
ing Bremerton was to take the fifty-mile walk which 
President Roosevelt had ordered. This was looked for- 
ward to with considerable concern by the older officers, be- 
cause we realized that it might develop unrecognized 
weak points in our bodies, as it had done in those of some 
army officers. The walk was to be preceded in each case 
by a careful physical examination. It was to be com- 
pleted in three days, followed by another careful physical 
examination, to see if any injury had resulted. 

In preparation for the walk, I bought a pair of shoes in 
San Francisco which had been designed for long walks 
and were called "Kozy Klogs." I walked in them a 
little, so as to accustom my feet to them, and them to my 
feet ; but on the first day of my walk I forgot to put them 
on, and walked in my ordinary shoes. My walk that day 
was in a bracing air, and amid scenery of river and lake 
and mountain and hill and pine forest of such inspiring 
grandeur that walking was a pleasure. My walk was 
for ten miles in one direction, and ten miles back, making 



446 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

twenty miles. I returned on board quite tired, but far 
from exhausted, and I was able to take up the paper work 
of my office after I had had a bath. 

The next day I put on my Kozy Klogs and started on 
my walk, but decided to go in another direction. I walked 
for five miles amid some scenery that was even more beau- 
tiful than that of the day before, but over a road that was 
hillier, and as the day was warmer, and as the road was 
dusty, I was tired at the end of the first ten miles, and 
wanted to return to the ship. My feet felt as big as lob- 
sters and as red. My Kozy Klogs had turned out to be 
instruments of torture. I retraced my five-mile walk, 
however, and got to the end of it without much distress, 
but my way back was through purgatory. I have never 
been so tired in my life as I was walking up a steep, dusty 
hill on my last two miles. I finally arrived on board ship, 
and when I sat down on my bunk to take my shoes off, I 
was so tired I could not get up again. The principal 
trouble was with my feet. The surgeon repaired them 
that night, however, and I walked the remaining ten miles 
without difficulty the next morning. 

One of the pleasant incidents of our stay at Bremerton 
was the exposition given at Seattle, near by. While this 
exposition was not so large as some other expositions had 
been, it was conducted with more foresight and adminis- 
trative ability perhaps than any previously held. Naval 
officers have experiences all their lives in matters of ad- 
ministration and arrangement, and we were all enthusi- 
astic about the way in which this exposition was carried 
on. The incident that stands out most clearly in my mind 
in connection with it is a ride that I took out to the 
grounds from the water-front. I was in a handsome open 
automobile, and I sat on the back seat alone, dressed in 
my gorgeous uniform, terminating at the top in a black- 
and-gold chapeau, and including epaulets, medals, etc. 
The day was fine, and as I drove rapidly along, I realized 
from the glances of the people on the streets that I must 
be making a rather spectacular appearaiice. It occurred 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 447 

to me that an observer would naturally suppose that I was 
feeling as fine as I looked; but as a fact, I had such a 
stomachache that I could have cried. 

On New York day at the exposition there was a large 
dinner given, at which were present two possible Presi- 
dential candidates. Governor Hughes of New York and 
Governor Johnson of Minnesota. It was known that 
Governor Johnson was to go home from Seattle and un- 
dergo a surgical operation. He did so, and died as the 
result of the operation. 

The good people of Seattle and the good people of the 
navy-yard at Bremerton were very kind indeed to us, and 
my wife and daughter and I were the recipients of a great 
deal of kindly hospitality, which we shall never forget. 
Our stay there was one of the bright spots in our memo- 
ries. But the earth continued to turn on its axis, bring- 
ing its alternation of light and darkness and its succession 
of working days, so that the work which was to be done on 
the Tennessee and other ships was finally finished. At 
last, one evening at seven o'clock, the division got under 
way and stood north through Puget Sound, and afterward 
to the westward through the magnificent strait of San 
Juan de Fuca. The Tennessee led the procession, and I 
stood on the bridge all night, piloting her, and verifying 
her position continually by the use of the range-finder. 
Before daybreak we had passed Cape Flattery, and were 
standing out into the Pacific, bound for San Francisco. 
Two days later the Tennessee led the column into San 
Francisco Bay and anchored there about midnight in a 
heavy mist that was almost a fog. 

My wife and daughter joined me in San Francisco, and 
we decided there that they should go out to Honolulu, 
and return from there to San Francisco. Sebree had 
now become commander in chief of the fleet, and had re- 
ceived orders from the department to go to Honolulu, 
thence to the Admiralty Islands, near New Guinea, and 
thence to Manila. 

So when the fleet started for Honolulu, my little family 



448 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

followed in a passenger steamer. The fleet made the trip 
at the highest speed they could, which averaged nearly 
eighteen knots. This was the record up to that time, for 
so long a journey, made by so many ships. 

We had a pleasant staj^ in Honolulu, of course ; all stays 
in Honolulu are pleasant. During our stay there my wife 
and I decided that she and our daughter would go out to 
Shanghai again, and revisit old scenes and acquaintances, 
because we now knew that the fleet was to go there from 
Manila. 

The trip of the fleet to the Admiralty Islands was pleas- 
ant in the first part, but so hot in the second part as to be 
decidedly unpleasant. We did not like the Admiralty Is- 
lands at all. We had thought that Manila was extremely 
hot, but Manila was cool compared with them. We were 
there only a few days, and I did not go ashore, feeling hot 
enough on board ship. The officers who did go ashore de- 
scribed the customs and costumes of the natives as evi- 
dencing almost the lowest state of civilization a human 
being could live in. 

We headed for the comparatively cool precincts of 
Manila with great joy though we knew that in Manila Bay 
and outside we should have to work much harder than 
people like to work in tropical climates, in order to get 
ready for day target-practice and night target-practice, 
and afterward to carry out those practices. Nobody who 
has not been on board a modern man-of-war knows how 
strenuous this kind of work is, and what a period of anx- 
iety it is, especially for the captains and gunnery officers 
of the ships. Target-practice shows better than any 
other one thing the condition of efficiency of each ship. 
For this reason an officer's professional reputation de- 
pends so much on the way he goes through target-prac- 
tice, especially if he is a captain or gunnery officer, that 
the period of target-practice is like a gentle nightmare. 

We were in Manila at this work about a month. The 
Tennessee did better than any other ship in the fleet, and 
there was a long period before the results of the target 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 449 

practice had been fully worked out in the Navy Depart- 
ment when the Tennessee was supposed to have done bet- 
ter than any other ship in the navy. After the results 
had been thoroughly worked out, however, it was an- 
nounced that the best ship was the Vermont, which re- 
ceived a mark of 48 %o ; that the Tennessee was the second 
ship, with a mark of 44%o ; and that the Maryland was the 
third ship, with a mark of 41"Xo. The captains, executive 
officers, navigators and gunnery officers of the Vermont, 
Tennessee, and Maryland received commendatory letters 
from the department because of the efficiency of their 
ships. 

This was the fourth commendatory letter that I had re- 
ceived from the department during my cruise. The first 
was for my method of ''navigating without horizon," the 
second was for my method of correcting range-finders, the 
third was for putting out the fire in Coquimbo, and the 
fourth was for the efficiency of my ship at target-practice. 
In that target-practice there were twenty-seven battle- 
ships and armored cruisers competing. 

After target-practice, we headed with joy toward 
Shanghai. We arrived at Shanghai, or, rather, at Wu- 
sung, three days before Christmas. Wusung is on the 
Yang-tse-Kiang, just where the Wusung River enters it, 
and about fifteen miles below Shanghai. Wusung is a 
most uncomfortable anchorage. The tide runs at great 
velocity in one direction or the other, and the bottom is so 
soft that the anchor sinks deep into the mud. I anchored 
the Tennessee with one anchor, but the next morning she 
drifted, and a pilot who came on board said it was better 
to moor with two anchors, because a ship was moved so 
violently by the current, when the tide changed, that she 
was apt to pull her anchor out than if there was only one. 
I took the advice of the local expert and moored. The 
day before we were to leave, Admiral Sebree suggested to 
me that I had better see if the anchor-chains were clear, 
because he had cruised in China before, and knew that 
ships were apt to foul their chains at Wusung. I was 



450 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

very grateful to Admiral Sebree for this advice, and I 
followed it at once. It was fortunate that I did so, be- 
cause the chains were found to be in such a horrible tangle 
that it took us from ten o'clock in the forenoon until after 
eleven o 'clock that night to get them untangled. 

About four o'clock on the day of o.ur arrival I went 
ashore at Wusung to take the train to Shanghai. After I 
had climbed up on the dock, after a rough-and-tumble trip 
in a steam launch, I found that I had barely time to catch 
the train to Shanghai. Some Chinese coolies were there, 
each with a wheel-barrow in which two passengers could 
sit, one on each side, and they suggested to me in Pigeon- 
English that I should be trundled up to tlie train in a 
wheelbarrow, because, ''No gotee time to walkee." As 
their reasoning seemed to be good, though ungrammati- 
cally expressed, I got up on one side of a wheelbarrow, 
with considerable anxiety. I expected to be pushed along 
over some rather uneven ground that I saw, but that was 
not the expectation of the coolie. If I had known what 
his expectation was, I do not think I should have allowed 
him to fulfil it; but after we got started, it was too late 
to stop, and we could not turn around. He started at 
full speed along a very narrow sea-wall that skirted the 
shore, and of which the side ran down vertically to the 
rocks about twenty feet below, on which the surf was 
breaking. My feet dangled over the precipice; and I 
fully expected each moment that the wheelbarrow and 
the coolie and I would descend to a common destruction ; 
but, as a matter of fact, we ran along with absolute 
smoothness and with perfect balance, and without swerv- 
ing either to the right or to the left. 

The railway to Shanghai ran along a narrow stream, 
muddy, sluggish, and shallow. On both banks of this 
stream were many Chinese houses, and on this stream 
were many Chinese boats. In these boats and houses 
were many thousands of Chinese men, women, and chil- 
dren. There were no signs of any attempts at sanita- 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 451 

tion of any sort, and it was evident that all the water 
which was drunk came from that nasty stream. Yet the 
men, women, and children looked as healthy as most 
people, and the babies were noticeably fat. 

I rode in a jin-rikisha to the Palace Hotel, where my 
wife and daughter were. I found my wife laid up in 
bed with a heavy cold and under a doctor 's care. I had 
a conversation with the doctor the next morning, and 
he told me that she was very ill, and could not possibly 
get well for a week or more. This was disquieting in- 
formation, because she had her passage engaged for 
Yokohama in a steamer which was to leave in a few 
days. Besides that, the fleet was to leave in a few days 
for Yokohama, and then go to San Francisco. That 
night she was so ill that I made up my mind that I should 
have to stay with her in Shanghai even if I had to give 
up the command of my ship. She remained ill for sev- 
eral days, though gradually getting better. Finally, the 
day before the steamer was to leave, she suddenly became 
perfectly well. 

In Shanghai one can get more for a dollar, or could 
then, than in any other place in the world. My wife and 
daughter had adjoining rooms, each of which was large 
and comfortable, with its private bath, for five yen per 
day each, which included meals and a service* that 
I have never seen surpassed and seldom equaled. The 
aggregate cost of the entire hotel living for both was 
somewhat less than five dollars in American money per 
day, and all other prices were on a similar scale. A 
bottle of excellent port cost only two yen, somewhat 
less than a dollar. Other wines were similarly cheap, 
and so were all imported articles, because Shanghai was 
a free port. Articles of silverware, silks, and things of 
Chinese workmanship in general being likewise inexpen- 
sive, we were able to exchange some pretty and yet use- 
ful gifts at Christmas. 

From Shanghai we went to Yokohama, which, though 



452 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO KEAR-ADMIEAL 

considerably farther north, was considerably warmer, 
because the Japan stream from the south passed near 
Yokohama and warmed it. 

The Tennessee had an exhilarating trip through the 
beautiful Inland Sea of Japan, through which I had gone 
thirteen years before in the other direction, when navi- 
gator of the Petrel. As we stopped at the entrance of 
the Strait of Shimonoseki, I noticed a Japanese boat- 
man standing in his little boat. The weather was very 
cold, and we on board the Tennessee wore all the clothes 
that we could pile on; but this boatman was standing 
at ease, and apparently in comfort, without any cloth- 
ing whatever except a little shirt, and a pair of trousers 
that came just below his knees. 

Naval officers have to study weather conditions a great 
deal not only in regard to the action of the weather on 
the sea itself, but also its effect on human beings. As 
a result, most of us have come to think that the ill ef- 
fect of cold is not nearly so great as people suppose. 
The only man who died on board the Tennessee during 
the entire two years that I commanded her died of 
pneumonia. He died in the tropics so long a time after 
we had left the cold weather that the doctors knew that 
his illness had been contracted in the tropics. When we 
went from Manila to Shanghai, we made a sudden change 
from hot weather to a temperature of thirty-two degrees, 
Fahrenheit, when we arrived. I was much concerned 
lest the sudden change should cause a great deal of ill- 
ness. It caused hardly any that was worth considering. 

During our stay in Yokohama my family lived at 
the Grand Hotel, which was much more expensive than 
it had been on our previous trip thirteen years before, 
but no better. We were entertained pleasantly in Tokio 
at both official and unofficial dinners and receptions. A 
delightful luncheon was given by Baron Takahashi to 
Admiral Sebree and the captains, at which my wife and 
some other ladies were present. It was a Japanese 
luncheon, with modifications, and it would have been even 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 453 

more pleasant than it was if we had not had to sit cross- 
legged on the floor. The official dinners had one peculiar- 
ity that I had never seen before, that all the guests were 
supposed to leave at ten o'clock. 

The American ambassador, Mr, Bryan, arranged an 
audience for Admiral Sebree and the captains with the 
Mikado. We went up from Yokohama to Tokio by train, 
then drove to a hotel in Tokio where we put our special 
full-dress uniforms on, and thence to the mikado's 
palace. We drove into an inclosure and up to an un- 
pretentious building. On entering, we were met by offi- 
cials in non-military uniform and escorted to a waiting- 
room. This waiting-room was plainly furnished, but 
with the exquisite taste and cleanliness of the Japanese. 
The place was noticeably quiet; not a sound could be 
heard. Finally, we ranged in line, one behind the other, 
and marched into the adjoining room. There we saw 
standing a man in uniform, with his left hand resting 
on his sword. We went up to this man in the order of 
our rank, and were successively presented. The mikado 
shook hands with each of us, and said he was glad to 
see us. His manner was unassuming and almost 
deprecatory. To me he did not look like a well man. 

After having been presented, each officer backed out 
of the room by a door different from the one by which 
he had entered it, and thence returned to the waiting- 
room. Before going into the emperor ^s presence, the 
only direction given to each officer was not to turn his 
back on the emperor. 

During the time we were in the inclosure that held the 
palace I did not see a military uniform except that of 
the emperor. 

A few days before we left Yokohama, a Japanese 
photographer sent an advertisement on board. Think- 
ing it might be interesting to own a Japanese photograph 
of myself, I sat for one. In a few days I received some 
proofs, and I thought they looked a little hard. When 
I took them to him and made some such remark, the 



454 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

photographer said in very precise English: "This is 
truth without mercy ; I will put some mercy now in your 
picture." I asked him to put some mercy in, and he 
did so. Some one in his office, I suppose a clerk, wrote 
on the picture, "Captan Tennessy." 

We arrived in Honolulu about the first of February. 
My little family went again to the Moana Hotel at 
Waikiki, where the surf breaks on the beach, from which 
beautiful views can always be had of mountain and sea^ 
and where it seems easier and pleasanter to live than in 
any other place in the world. 

One of the incidents of our stay was the most beauti- 
ful ball I have ever seen. It was given by the officers 
of the fleet in partial return for the hospitalities which 
they had received, and was held on board three ships, 
the Tennessee, the Washington, and the California. The 
Tennessee was secured at one side of a long, wide dock, 
and the California was secured alongside the Tennessee 
on the side away from the dock, and the Washington 
was secured to the other side of the dock. The dock it- 
self was decorated with flags and with beautiful plants 
and flowers, which were loaned by citizens of Honolulu, 
and on the dock a structure was built representing the 
quarter-deck of a ship, on the stern of which was painted 
in large letters the name, U. S. S. Honolulu. The 
Honolulu, the Washington, the Tennessee, and the Cali- 
fornia had each its band and supper and dancing-floor; 
so that, although thousands of people attended, there 
was plenty of room and plenty of entertainment for 
every one. The night was warm, but not hot; a gentle 
trade-wind blew, and the full moon gave the last touch 
of perfection to an occasion unimaginable anywhere ex- 
cept in Honolulu. 

The fleet left Honolulu on February 12, 1910, and 
headed toward the United States. As we sped to the 
eastward after clearing the harbor, I watched the grad- 
ually receding palms and houses of the town, and Dia- 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 455 

mond Head growing smaller in the distance. I remem- 
bered the first morning I had seen Diamond Head in 
February, 1875, just thirty-five years before. I called 
to mind the many experiences I had had there since then, 
all of them delightful; and I realized with the helpless 
feeling of advancing years that it was hardly possible 
that I should ever behold again those beautiful and 
familiar scenes, now fading from my view. 

Before leaving Yokohama, we had received word that 
the Tennessee and Washington were to leave the Pacific 
and go to the Atlantic, to form part of a special service 
squadron under Rear-Admiral Staunton; and that the 
Tennessee and Washington would proceed to Bremerton 
from Honolulu, while the other ships would go to San 
Francisco. 

Therefore, before leaving Honolulu, Admiral Sebree 
gave me written orders to proceed with the fleet from 
Honolulu; but to be prepared after clearing the harbor 
to receive a signal from him to take command of both 
the Tennessee and Washington and proceed with them 
to Bremerton. 

This signal was given about an hour after leaving 
the harbor. I immediately changed the course of the 
Tennessee to the northward, and signaled to the Wash- 
ington to follow. We were within sight of the rest of 
the fleet the remainder of the afternoon, but on the 
following morning I could say to myself, 

I am monarch of all I survey, 

My right there is none to dispute. 

Everything promised a pleasant trip for the first few 
days and a rough one for the last few days; but one 
afternoon, two days after leaving Honolulu, I received 
a signal from Captain C. C. Rogers, who then com- 
manded the Washington, that some sickness had broken 
out, which the doctors diagnosed as smallpox. The next 
day the diagnosis was confirmed. On arriving in the 



456 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIEAL 

neighborhood of Port Townsend, where there was a hos- 
pital belonging to the United States Marine Hospital 
Service, I sent the Washington there. 

The Tennessee went to the navy-yard at Bremerton, 
and I remember making that last turn before reaching 
the navy-yard just after dusk. We anchored near the 
dock, and the commandant directed me to go alongside 
the dock at seven o'clock the next morning. When I 
started, I remember that I had a faint consciousness 
of not being very alert. By that time I had handled 
the Tennessee in so many difficult situations, and had 
been so fortunate in meeting those situations with suc- 
cess, that on this occasion, which was the last one in 
which I ever put a big ship alongside a dock, I was over- 
confident. The result was that I did the worst piece of 
ship-handling I ever had done, and brought the ship 
alongside the dock with a shock. Before hitting the 
dock, I realized what a bad landing I was going to make, 
but I did not realize it until too late. I had not made my 
plan with sufficient care before starting. I saw that I 
had not used foresight, the value of which Harry Taylor 
had impressed on me many years before. My bad land- 
ing that morning was a shock to me in more senses than 
one, and I was glad afterward that it had happened, be- 
cause it reminded me very forcibly of the necessity of 
making proper plans before taking action. 

Shortly after reaching the navy-yard I was delighted 
and amazed to read in the Seattle Post Intelligence that 
Secretary Meyer had appointed four aids to coordinate 
the work of the bureaus of the Navy Department and to 
assist him in giving the activities of the Navy Depart- 
ment a definite direction. 

For many years projects of this kind had been sug- 
gested from time to time, and boards had been appointed 
to make recommendations as to what had best be done. 
These efforts could all be traced to Admiral Luce, and 
they had the support of the navy as a whole; but they 
had never come to any result. The Navy Department, 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 457 

as organized by law, was administered by a secretary of 
the navy, and divided into eight bureaus. Each one of 
those bureaus was independent of every other, and each 
chief of bureau was independent of any authority what- 
ever except that of the secretary. As the secretary was 
a civilian, and untrained in such things as ordnance or 
steam engineering, the chiefs of the bureaus conducted 
their departments on lines which they themselves de- 
veloped, and which had little reference to the lines in 
which the other bureaus were working. Secretary Whit- 
ney had remedied the evil in one particular, by making 
the supplies for the navy belong to the navy as a whole, 
and not to the various bureaus. This prevented duplica- 
tion of supplies, but it did not produce coordination of 
effort, or the directing of the Navy Department as a 
whole toward any definite end. Still less did it plan 
or even consider any definite end toward which the activi- 
ties of the department should be directed. 

The result was that there was no coordination except 
of the most general kind, and no selection of any object 
toward which the activities of the navy should be di- 
rected. Secretary Moody and Secretary Newberry had 
appointed boards, one composed of civilians and officers, 
and one of naval officers only, and these boards had made 
very definite and excellent recommendations. Most sec- 
retaries had taken that amount of interest in the navy 
which any man takes in any undertaking which is en- 
tirely different from anything else he has worked at all 
his life, and had been induced to appoint such boards only 
by the insistence of naval officers. An exception must be 
made as to Secretary Newberry, who had enlisted for 
service in the Spanish War, and who was genuinely in- 
terested in the navy. But all the secretaries except 
Newberry had been fearful of losing their ''power," 
and the bureau chiefs had opposed such effective opposi- 
tion that no real steps had been taken. 

Here at last was a secretary of the navy actually tak- 
ing a definite step which would reduce his "power" in the 



458 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

sense that it would take certain details away from him, 
and doing something which had no other object than the 
efficiency of the navy! It was an incredible thing; but 
it had happened. 

Secretary Meyer had established a system by which 
he was assisted in performing his duties by four aides, 
one for operations, one for personnel, one for material, 
and one for inspections. Congressional authority was 
not asked for, but it was not necessary so long as Mr. 
Meyer should remain secretary of the navy. The hope 
was that, before he should cease to be secretary, con- 
gressional authorization would be obtained, or that the 
system would be found to be so good that the succeed- 
ing secretary would not dare to abolish it. 

One good feature about not having congressional action 
was that political influence would not probably be em- 
ployed to have any officer appointed to one of those posi- 
tions. The appointments of chiefs of bureau had too 
often been influenced by political considerations, one 
reason being that each appointment had to be confirmed 
by the Senate. The excellence of the appointments made 
by Secretary Meyer proved that no political considera- 
tions influenced him in his choice of aids. The first aid 
for operations was Rear- Admiral Wainwright; the first 
aid for personnel was Rear-Admiral Potter; the first 
aid for material was Rear- Admiral Swift; and the first 
aid for inspections was Read-Admiral Ward. These 
were all men of experience, ability, and character. 

My wife and daughter had gone to San Francisco 
with the intention of visiting the southern part of Cali- 
fornia, and returning to San Francisco. I had expected 
to be detached, because I had been a year and a half in 
the ship, which at that time was the average length of 
a captain's command, and I had made general plans to 
join my family in San Francisco and go east with them. 
But shortly after reaching the navy-yard I received or- 
ders to take command of the South Dakota and Ten- 
nessee, and proceed with them, by way of Panama and 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 459 

the Strait of Magellan, to Maldonado, in Uruguay, and 
report there to Admiral Staunton. The South Dakota 
had been substituted for the Washington, which had not 
been able yet to get rid of the smallpox germ. 

So my wife and daughter, instead of going south, 
came north to Bremerton again, and spent two days on 
the train in a washout, with very little to eat and drink. 
On the tenth of March they started east overland, and 
I started south overseas. When I backed the Tennessee 
out from the dock, she was the most unman-of-war-like- 
looking ship I had ever seen. As we did not expect to 
be able to get any vegetables until we reached Maldonado, 
the upper deck was almost covered with potatoes and 
onions, and these were entirely covered with coal-dust; 
because I started the ship away from the dock as soon 
as the last bag of coal had come on board. 

We had a beautiful trip through Puget Sound, and 
out through the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. The men 
squirted water over everything, and scrubbed every- 
thing to their hearts' content, and so everything was 
virtually clean by sunset, I had ordered the South 
Dakota, which was at San Francisco, to report to me off 
the Farallones Islands at noon on a certain day. At 
that time she did so, and then took up her station on 
the starboard beam of the Tennessee, two thousand yards 
distant. In an hour she had corrected her compass and 
her speed of engines so as to go at exactly the same speed 
and in the same direction as the Tennessee, and after 
that we were able to keep together without any signaling 
whatever all the way to Maldonado. 

During all the time I had been in command of the 
Tennessee, until I left Honolulu with the Washington, 
my time had been so fully engrossed day and night, in- 
cluding Sundays, with the management of the ship and 
all the multitudinous demands upon my attention in the 
drills and discipline of nearly a thousand men, that I 
had not allowed my thoughts to wander to other fields, I 
had not even allowed myself to think, except at rare in- 



460 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tervals, about my turret range-finder, which I had 
mounted on the forward turret shortly after I took com- 
mand. Immediately after leaving Honolulu, however, I 
was able to relax my attention and to think occasionally 
on general subjects. 

The first subject that attracted me was one that I had 
suggested somewhat in my essay, ''The Naval Profes- 
sion," that of comparing the effect which a ship can 
exert with the effect which an army can exert. My sug- 
gestion had not attracted much attention at the time, 
and though some people thought it was rather striking, 
it did not seem to have any practical value. It occurred 
to me now, however, that it might be made of great prac- 
tical value, provided it was sound. The more I thought 
of it, the more it seemed to be sound, and capable of prac- 
tical application. One of the first things that struck me 
was that, if it was sound, it must be because the power 
which a ship or army exerts is mechanical; and of 
this the fact that my own inventions had increased the 
power of navies by increasing their power to do me- 
chanical destruction seemed almost a complete proof. 
This led to the idea that the influence upon history which 
Mahan called "sea power" was not really sea power, but 
naval power, and that its influence was due to the fact that 
this naval power could deliver blows which would have a 
mechanically destructive effect. In pondering over this 
idea in the hours of leisure which the long sea-trip gave 
me, a realization flashed into my mind that a navy or 
army is merely a development, produced hy centuries of 
progress, of earlier means for waging war, and that, if 
we would carry hack our history of means of warfare- 
far enough, we would come to the cluh with which Cain 
killed Abel. 

This idea startled me, and I proceeded at once to en- 
deavor to express it on paper. I knew it would be use- 
less to try to get any support for such an idea unless I 
could get people to see it gradually ; but in the endeavor to 
do this I wrote for many days without any success what- 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 461 

ever, and without perceiving any line along which I could 
work. Finally, however, my ideas became more clearly 
arranged, and I thought I saw my way to writing an 
article in which I should bring out my mechanical theory, 
by analyzing the nature of sea power and showing that 
it was essentially naval power, and then by analyzing the 
nature of naval power and showing that it was essentially 
mechanical. Work on this paper occupied most of my 
leisure moments until we arrived at Maldonado in the 
middle of April, and from that time, but at less frequent 
intervals, during the rest of the year. 

Our first stop was to be at Panama. The night be- 
fore reaching Panama, which we expected to reach about 
noon the following day, I went upon the bridge about ten 
o'clock, as was my custom, to see if the officer of the deck 
understood his night orders, and if the dispositions for 
the night had been properly made. 

I stood on the port side of the bridge and looked over 
the sea for a few minutes. Suddenly I saw what looked 
like a line of white foam, quite distant, and extending 
from our port beam in a diagonal line to a point ahead 
of the ship and across the bow. I knew that our navi- 
gational calculations fixed our position about fifty miles 
from shore; but what was that long white line? It 
looked like a line of breakers. The night was calm, and 
the sea was smooth, and that line showed with a dis- 
tinctness that was painful. 

I went into the chart-house and examined the chart 
very carefully near the point which represented our 
supposed position, but could see no explanation. Then 
I went back to the bridge, where I had stood before, 
thinking that perhaps my eyes had deceived me. But 
there was that line, looking the same as before, only 
clearer and nearer; in fact, it did not look like a line 
now; it looked more like surf. 

*'Do you see anything peculiar on the port bow?" I 
said to the lookout. 

''Yes, sir; I see those breakers," he answered. 



462 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

He answered in a perfectly matter-of-fact way; and 
yet he knew that if the ship ran into breakers at the 
fourteen-knot speed at which we were then going, she 
would become a total wreck, and he would probably be 
drowned. 

I asked the officer of the deck and the quartermaster 
what the thing looked like to them, and they all said 
it looked like breakers. Again I went to the chart- 
house, and again I could find no justification for sup- 
posing that what looked like breakers could be really 
breakers. 

Then I went back to the bridge again, and stood on 
the port side. By this time the foaming water was so 
near that we could see it with absolute distinctness, and 
hear it besides. Closer and closer we got to it. The 
temptation to stop or to head away from it was tre- 
mendous. I held on to the brass railing of the bridge in 
front of me, and so did the men by me, and watched the 
ship rush toward the foaming mass. Finally we were 
so close to it that it was impossible to avoid it even if 
I had wished. I gripped that railing so tightly that my 
hands ached all the next day, as I saw the ship plunge 
into the foaming water, and go through it unharmed. 

I suppose that what we passed through was merely 
the tide-rip, which is usually formed when a tide goes 
into or comes out of any harbor and meets the other 
tide. I do not think it could have been anything else; 
but I had never seen a tide-rip make such a disturbance 
before, and I have never seen it since. 

Next day, shortly before noon, the two ships were ad- 
vancing at fourteen knots toward the anchorage. I had 
always endeavored in the Minneapolis, Arkansas, and 
Tennessee to anchor in rather a dashing way, and on 
this occasion I was making a special etfort, because I 
saw a foreign man-of-war ahead, near where we were to 
anchor. Shortly before getting to the point where I had 
intended to slow down, the navigator reported to me that 
he had made a mistake in the last position he had re- 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 463 

ported, and that the ships were very much farther ahead 
than he had supposed. I had an instantaneous vision of 
running into a shoal, and having the South Dakota ram 
the Tennessee from behind before she could stop her- 
self, because there was a shoal directly ahead, and this 
shoal was not very far away, if the navigator's last be- 
lief in regard to our position was correct. I thought it 
was not correct, however, and told him to verify it. 
Meantime we kept charging ahead. To my intense re- 
lief, he came- to me soon, and reported that we were 
perfectly safe, and that the position he had first reported 
was correct. 

So I was able to make a fine anchorage, after all. On 
anchoring I was surprised to receive a salute of eleven 
guns from the foreign man-of-war. This salute was not 
due me, because I was not a commodore; but I realized 
that the senior officer's pennant that our mast-head car- 
ried had been mistaken for a commodore's pennant, and 
so I returned the salute gun for gun. 

This was my first salute. It was an honor which I 
did not deserve, but I am not the only man in the world 
who has been accorded an honor which he did not de- 
serve. 

The first evening after anchoring in Panama, I asked 
Captain Smith of the South Dakota to dine with me on 
shore. It was delightful for us to sit in a quiet corner in 
the hotel dining-room in civilian's clothes, and be as un- 
dignified and boyish as we felt like being, as an escape 
from the rigid and solitary dinners we had to have in 
our cabins on board ship. When I first joined the Ten- 
nessee, my boy (who was named Mann), used to stand 
in front of me, on the opposite side of the table, and he 
was so fearful that he would not foresee my wants that 
he kept his eyes fixed on me the entire time. This close 
attention to duty, commendable as it was, affected me 
painfully after a while; and so I told him to stand be- 
hind my chair. I could always tell that he was there, 
because I could hear him breathing. 



464 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The next day I asked Smith to go ashore with me and 
help me buy a hat. I purposed buying a Panama hat, and 
on this occasion I made up my mind to throw prudence to 
the winds, and buy the best Panama hat I could find, see- 
ing visions of that Panama hat gracing my white head 
during the summers of my declining years. So I put a 
good deal of money into my pocket, and Smith and I 
went to the largest hat store in the town. But I could 
not find any hat there that cost more than fifty Panama 
dollars, which was only twenty-five gold dollars. Smith 
was disgusted, and said he would not have come ashore 
with me if he had known that I was going to buy a ' ' cheap 
tile." 

That hat looked very well the following summer, and 
pretty well the succeeding summer, though it seemed to 
me that it looked unaccountably smaller. The next sum- 
mer I had it blocked and stretched, but it was smaller 
still. Every summer that hat has become smaller and 
smaller, more and more like Happy Hooligan's hat, for 
some reason which nobody can explain; so last summer 
I gave it away. 

Our reason for going to Panama was to get coal to 
take us to Sandy Point in the Strait of Magellan. We 
coaled, as all ships do, in the lee of Toboga Island, in- 
the waters said to be the residence of ''Toboga Bill," a 
famous shark of great size and ferocity. The next fore- 
noon, about eleven, the men asked permission to go in 
swimming. I was sorry they did so, because I was afraid 
of sharks ; and yet I could give no reason for refusing per- 
mission, since it was the custom for the men in our ships 
to go in swimming there. 

I gave permission ; and then, feeling somewhat uneasy, 
went up on the upper deck, where I could assure myself 
that all due precautions were taken. The booms which 
protrude from the ship's side forward when at anchor, 
and are used for securing boats to, were lowered until 
the lower ends touched the water, so that the men could 
get on board the ship readily ; and a boat on each side was 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 465 

stationed in such a position that, in case of threatened 
drowning, it could reach the danger-spot in a few sec- 
onds. 

At one time, when there were more than five hundred 
men in the water, my glance happened to go to a man on 
the port side. The water was absolutely smooth, and I 
could see the top of his head just even with the surface 
of the water, as though he were "treading water." 
There seemed nothing remarkable in his appearance un- 
til I noticed that he was gradually sinking. There was 
no sign of any struggle, and there was no blood ; yet he 
was undeniably sinking slowly. By this time some of 
the men near him had noticed his disappearance and had 
given the alarm. The boat on that side pulled up to 
where he had been last seen, and many men dived for 
him. 

That is the end of the story. He was never seen after- 
ward, and his body was never found. He was a healthy 
young man of twenty-two, and no good reason was as- 
signed by anybody for his sinking. One theory was 
that some shark had seized him by the foot and dragged 
him down, and that the shock had for some reason been 
so great that he did not even struggle. 

Panama Bay was intensely hot, and so we looked for- 
ward with pleasure to the trip down the west coast of 
South America, over the smooth ocean of those regions, 
and under their dim sunshine. We knew that we should 
meet rough weather when we got to the Strait of Magel- 
lan and the rocky peaks of Cape Pillar. The afternoon 
before arriving there I spent all the time at my desk, 
reading the sailing instructions about the dangers near 
the entrance and through the strait, especially near the 
entrance. Sailing directions are written with the in- 
tention of pointing out the existing dangers to mariners, 
and they are written so realistically as to impress the 
mariners very fully with those dangers. On this par- 
ticular afternoon the ship was rolling and pitching vio- 
lently, and I could hear the wind howling on deck and 



466 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

feel the engines thumping under me. The combined ef- 
fect of this and what I had been intently reading sud- 
denly gave me a sort of nervous spasm that must have 
lasted fifteen minutes. The idea of rushing into the rock- 
bound strait, in the midst of the terrific seas I had been 
reading about, suddenly filled me with dread. It seemed 
a thing that I could not possibly undertake. The feel- 
ing grew more and more acute. Then it suddenly passed 
away. 

I wished to enter the strait as soon after daylight as 
possible the next morning, in order to get to Sandy Point 
that night. So I got the ships within a short distance 
of the entrance the night before, and slowed down to 
such speed as would get us to the entrance before sun- 
rise. I rose an hour before daylight, and waited on the 
bridge for perhaps an hour, watching the magnificent 
spectacle of the day breaking behind a dim, rocky bar- 
rier that seemed to be in front of us, closing the way 
entirely, and covered with clouds that descended to the 
water 's-edge. When the sun rose, these clouds took on 
various reddish tints, dark and light, and became gradu- 
ally thinner. As they became thinner, they melted away 
slowly near the top, unveiling more and more of the 
sky, and letting an occasional snow-clad peak be seen. 
Then they retreated gradually at the bottom, and dis- 
closed a rocky shore and tremendous waves breaking on 
it. Finally they uncovered a narrow entrance that 
pierced those rocks, and extended toward the east. 

By this time I was heading toward the entrance at 
slow speed, with the South Dakota a quarter of a mile 
astern. I increased the speed now, and then increased it 
again; and in a few minutes we were going sixteen 
knots, steering directly for the narrow entrance, and 
headed at a light reddish fog, which limited the distance 
we could see ahead, but which receded exactly as rapidly 
from us as we advanced toward it. 

All that day the most magnificent panorama the world 
contains passed before us on both sides at a speed of 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 467 

sixteen knots an hour as we steamed by glaciers and 
mountains and cliffs and forests and around bold prom- 
ontories, sometimes in bright, clear air, and sometimes 
in brief snow-storms. At exactly nine o'clock we an- 
chored at Punta Arenas, which the English call Sandy 
Point. 

The next morning I sent a boat ashore for the Ameri- 
can consul, and he came off to call. He was a delightful, 
breezy old gentleman, who told me the first time he met 
me (and at least thirteen times afterward) that he was 
descended from ' ' Mad Anthony Wayne ' ' and that his last 
post had been in the Falkland Islands. He said that the 
Americans on shore wanted to give us a ball, and he asked 
if the captains and officers would accept it. I told him 
that we should be delighted, and he went ashore to make 
arrangements. 

Shortly afterward he sent back a message to the ship, 
asking if he could have the bands on the two ships to 
play at the ball. I sent back word that I should be de- 
lighted to send them. Then he sent off a message, asking 
if he could have some flags with which to decorate the 
room. I answered, "Certainly." Then he sent off a 
message, asking if I would send some sailors ashore 
to hang the flags and arrange the room. I agreed to this. 
Then he sent off a message, asking if he could have two 
hundred camp-chairs for the guests to sit on. I agreed. 
Then he sent off a message, asking if I would send some 
carpenters ashore to plane off the floor and otherwise 
improve the room. I agreed. Then he sent off a mes- 
sage, asking if he could borrow a lot of crockery for the 
supper. I agreed. Then he sent off a message, asking to 
borrow the silver presented to both ships, especially the 
punch-bowls. 

Finally the ball occurred, and it was extremely pleas- 
ant. The people in that region were evidently healthy, 
and did not have the opportunity of going to many balls, 
for they started dancing about nine o'clock and kept it 
up until almost morning, everybody seeming to dance 



468 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO KEAR-ADMIRAL 

almost every dance. One of the most indefatigable was 
the American consul, who was seventy years old. 

That evening I met an agreeable lady who asked me to 
come next day to the christening of her youngest child, 
who was named Decima, because she was the tenth. I 
went to the christening, and found a pleasant party as- 
sembled in a well-appointed house, with all the accom- 
paniments of wealth and taste. I met a particularly 
charming lady there who was perhaps thirty-five years 
old, and who was specially refined and gracious in dress 
and manner and general appearance. Feeling a little 
surprised at meeting there a lady whom I would not 
have been surprised at meeting in Paris or New York, but 
thinking that possibly she might be a recent comer, I 
asked her where she came from. She answered, with 
a smile, that she came from Tierra del Fuego. I said 
that I had heard that Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by 
people of the lowest order of civilization that could be 
found in the world, and asked her how it happened that 
she came from such a place. She answered that within 
the last few years there had been a tremendous influx 
into Tierra del Fuego of young Englishmen, who saw 
an opportunity to make their fortunes in raising sheep 
and selling wool ; that her husband had been a poor young 
lawyer in London, with no chance at all of accomplish- 
ing much, but that now he was a prosperous sheep-raiser 
and getting rich with great rapidity. 

We found waiting for us at Sandy Point a British 
collier, sent to coal us. After coaling us, the captain 
came into my cabin, the night before we left, to receive 
written orders from me as to where he was to go next. 
After this had been done, we got into conversation, and 
I found that he was in the employ of the Gowers in 
England, and was very well acquainted with Mrs. Gower, 
who was a cousin of my wife. 

We got under way one cold morning, and steamed 
rapidly to the northward and eastward, toward the At- 
lantic Ocean. Then we headed toward the north and 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 469 

steamed for Maldonado, rolling heavily to starboard and 
to port in the long southwest swells that are characteristic 
of those regions. 

In the Strait of Magellan, and for some distance to the 
north, we were accompanied by huge albatrosses. They 
were so big, would fly so close, and keep so even with 
the ship without apparent effort, that we would watch 
them for hours, trying to solve the mystery of their flight. 
At this time the aeroplane had become an assured suc- 
cess, and these albatrosses so impressed me with the 
possibilities that human flight had before it that I re- 
solved that I would study up that subject as soon as I 
got an opportunity. I realized that aeroplanes had 
''come to stay," and that they would get larger and 
larger, and that then the great speed of which they were 
capable would make them of tremendous value in war 
to any nation that had the foresight to develop their 
possibilities in time. 

About the middle of April we arrived at Maldonado and 
found Admiral Staunton waiting for us with the Mon- 
tana and North Carolina. There was a British ship 
stationed there, and I soon struck up a pleasant acquaint- 
ance with her captain. He was a splendid fellow of the 
British type, and I remember how delighted he was with 
the place, because there was so much opportunity for the 
officers and men to take long walks, go swimming and 
fishing, and indulge in the other outdoor sports that 
Britons love. 

Staunton made me chief of staff of his special service 
squadron, and I remember a distinctly stiff and formal 
call that we made, under the chaperonage of the Ameri- 
can minister, upon the President of Uruguay. 

The reason for the special service squadron being in 
this part of the world was the centennial celebration 
which the Argentine Government was about to hold. 
The American ships drew too much water to go up the 
River Plata to Buenos Aires, and so we went to Puerto 
Militar, a military and naval port near Bahia Blanca, in 



470 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

the southern end of Argentina. On the latter part of 
the day before we arrived I was stricken with a backache 
that was enormous; at least so it seemed to me. It got 
worse and worse during the day, and I came near to 
sending for the doctor; but as I had kept off the sick 
list during the entire cruise, I determined to fight it 
out. I said to myself that we would not get to our an- 
chorage until the following morning, and that after I 
had made my report to the admiral at eight o'clock that 
evening, I would go to bed. I was in the chart-house 
at eight o'clock, and was just about to go below to report 
to the admiral when he came into the chart-house. It 
was a miserable night, wet and cold ; just the worst night 
for a backache. I made my report to the admiral, and 
then, to my horror, he started a conversation about the 
coming ceremonies, of such a kind that I could not go 
below without telling him that I did not feel well; and 
this I did not want to do. The pain in my back grew 
worse and worse, until finally, about five minutes before 
twelve, it left me altogether. It has not yet returned. 

From Puerto Militar to Buenos Aires is about four 
hundred miles. The Argentine Government asked the 
admiral to go there with the captains, and to send as 
many sailors as he could spare to take part in the parade 
and other ceremonies. 

I went with the other captains, and after almost freez- 
ing to death in the European style of sleeping-car, we 
arrived at Buenos Aires. We were met at the railroad 
station by officers detailed for the purpose, and escorted 
to our rooms in the principal hotel. Each captain had a 
fine room and a private bath, and the admiral had a 
parlor besides. We were told that we were to stay at 
the hotel for ten days as the guests of the Government, 
and requested to order anything we wanted, including 
automobiles and wine. 

I have never seen such lavish entertainment as in 
Buenos Aires during those ten days. Buenos Aires re- 
minded us of Paris, except that the people were bigger, 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 471 

each family averaged about eight children, and there 
were no signs of poverty. A Portuguese officer said to 
me, '^In Buenos Aires there are a million people, all 
rich. ' ' The city was decorated with flags that delighted 
the eye by day, and with electric-lights that delighted the 
eye by night. The very handsome American Minister, 
Mr. Charles H. Sherill, was evidently persona gratissima 
to the people, and they made us think that we were also. 
Besides a beautiful dinner and dance at the minister's 
house, the social incidents that I remember the most 
clearly were the dinner given by the president, the after- 
noon at the jockey club, and one evening at the Teatro 
Colon. 

The dinner given by the president was in a large offi- 
cial building. There was a great strike going on at 
the time, and the military had virtually taken charge 
of the city; so that it was a little disconcerting, imme- 
diately after our arrival in the reception-room on the 
first floor of the building, to have all the electric lights 
suddenly go out and leave us in almost total darkness. In 
about ten minutes, however, lighted candles were 
brought ; and by the dim light they gave we threaded our 
way along what seemed like interminable corridors. Sud- 
denly the electric lights flashed up again, and then they 
went out. After about ten minutes they lighted them- 
selves again, and then went out. Finally they settled 
down to good behavior, and we had an admirable dinner. 
Each guest at the dinner received a medal about twice the 
size of a twenty-dollar gold piece, which, we were told, 
was of gold, but with only half as much gold in it as is 
in the usual coin. 

The scene at the jockey club was exhilarating and mag- 
nificent, made so largely by that touch of military splen- 
dor which only nations of military character know how 
to give. I had never been at any of the military re- 
views in France or Germany, and as my experience with 
race-track events was confined to events like those in 
the United States, Hong-Kong, and Shanghai, I was nat- 



472 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

urally impressed with the dash and precision and beauty 
with which the proceedings were carried on. 

We were invited to two performances at the Teatro 
Colon, the opera-house, each captain having a small box 
which would hold himself and three other officers. I 
remember that the first night the opera was ' ' Rigoletto, " 
and I remember that, when the performance was about 
half finished, the guests, of whom I was one, were in- 
vited to the supper-room, where an extremely elaborate 
supper was served, and where we were presented to the 
Infanta of Spain. 

Whenever I think of the Argentine Centennial, I smell 
champagne. 

Toward the close of our stay the president reviewed the 
Argentine fleet at a place some miles down the river. 
The invited guests went down in river steamers, and 
were surprised at the excellent showing the Argentine 
ships made, and the precision and effectiveness with 
which all the proceedings of the day were carried out. 
One of the incidents was a boat-race in which all the ves- 
sels took part, both Argentine and foreign. The race 
was won by the Japanese. 

On the way back in the steamer that evening I was 
saluted by a middle-aged Japanese officer, who made some 
pertinent remark. This led to conversation, and we 
walked up and down the deck for some time. Finally he 
stopped, drew himself up with a military salute, bowed, 
and departed. About five minutes after that, chancing 
to walk on another part of the deck, I saw that Japanese 
officer sitting down in a corner, writing rapidly in a 
note-book. 

From Puerto Militar we went to Montevideo, and from 
there we went to Rio Janeiro. 

We anchored in the beautiful bay of Rio Janeiro on a 
bright, warm afternoon about the first of June. The 
harbor of Rio is beautiful, but not so beautiful as the 
pictures of it indicate, because of the muddy color of the 
water, and the numerous patches of bare yellow soil, 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 473 

especially on the eastern side. The city is handsome in 
parts, especially the new parts; and its cleanliness in 
later years, since the yellow fever danger was located in 
the mosquito, has become quite painful. 

The four ships anchored in column near the Minas 
Geraes, the newest battle-ship that the Brazilian Navy 
had acquired. We had come to think that our big 15,000- 
ton armored cruisers were very J&ne; but here was a bat- 
tleship of 27,000 tons displacement. 

We were entertained delightfully by the naval authori- 
ties. The pleasantest occasion was a trip taken in auto- 
mobiles far up into the mountains. Before going up 
there, I had concluded that the harbor of Rio was not so 
beautiful in point of natural scenery as the harbor of New 
York ; but after going up into the mountains, and seeing 
the different magnificent views from them, I realized, as 
we all did, that no part of the world that we had ever 
been in was so beautiful as the environs of Rio de 
Janeiro. The way up was very steep, and a great deal 
of it lay over roads that had been made at the cost of 
the lives of many men, many years before. It seemed in- 
credible that men could have made such roads with the 
crude engineering facilities that existed at the time when 
they were made. The only explanation was that thou- 
sands and thousands of men had been worked like beasts 
under the lash of the conqueror. 

We had expected to get back to Rio by early after- 
noon, and have lunch there, but hour succeeded hour, 
and we kept heading away from Rio! I was becoming 
alarmed at the prospect of starving to death in the moun- 
tains, when suddenly we reached a clearing three or four 
acres in extent, where we saw luncheon-tables spread un- 
der gigantic trees. 

I have never had a more sumptuous lunch at Delmoni- 
co 's or the Plaza. Everything had been brought up from 
Rio in refrigerating-cars (except the waiters), and every- 
thing had been provided and thought of in advance. As 
we sat at our tables under enormous Brazilian trees, and 



474 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIEAL 

looked out over a landscape that included many miles 
of sea and mountain, the situation seemed incongruous. 
Things were a little formal, however ; for the Americans 
and Brazilians did not know each other very well, nor 
did either speak well the other's language. At length 
an officer who sat on my left, and who was the executive 
officer of the Minas Geraes, sprang to his feet and raised 
a champagne-glass above his head: ^'Oh, dis is doo 
damn stupid!" he cried. *'I vish to make things more 
cheerful! Hooray! hooray! hooray!" We all joined 
in the hoorays, and after that we were more congenial. 

At Rio we had the honor of meeting a man who was a 
statesman in the real sense of that much prostituted 
word. This was the Baron Eio Branco, the secretary of 
state of the Eepublic of Brazil. It was common talk 
that he could have been president at any time for many 
years if he had so desired; but that he preferred to be 
secretary of state, knowing that that was really what 
he ought to be, and that that was the position in which 
he could be the most useful to his country. The com- 
mon phrase in speaking of him was ''he has rendered 
enormous services." People through the country ap- 
preciated what he had done, and honored him for it. 

One of the small peculiarities connected with him that 
struck me curiously was the seeming lack of orderliness 
in the large room which he occupied as his office. One of 
his secretaries told me that although papers were strewn 
about the room and piled in heaps in what looked like 
hopeless confusion, yet that the minister knew where 
every paper was ; and that although they had often tried 
to induce him to let them adopt modern methods of re- 
cording and filing papers, they had been unable to wean 
him from the habit which had grown on him during all 
of his official life. 

On our way north we stopped at Culebra. I remem- 
ber the officer who was in command there telling me that 
he was suffering from what he called "Culebritis," an 
intense weariness of the monotonous life, and especially 



THE CAPTAIN'S CRUISE 475 

of the uninterrupted succession of bright, sunshiny days. 

From Culebra we went to Hampton Roads, and thence 
to the southern drill grounds, where we held our day and 
night target-practice. 

On the day after anchoring at Hampton Roads, I re- 
ceived a letter from Rear-Admiral Wainwright, the aid 
for operations, saying that Admiral Dewey and he would 
like to have me become a member of the General Board, 
in the place of Captain Knapp. I was overjoyed at re- 
ceiving this letter, because duty on the General Board 
was the best possible duty a captain could have on 
shore, especially if he cherished aspiration toward flying 
his flag afloat. For an officer to be made a member of 
the General Board was to have the stamp of official ap- 
proval put on him; for Admiral Dewey was more than 
careful as to whom he allowed to become a member of 
the board. 

So I answered the letter at once, saying that I should 
consider it an honor to become a member of the Gen- 
eral Board. In a few days Captain Harry S. Knapp, 
the most popular officer in the navy, reported on board 
as my relief. That afternoon I was pulled ashore in 
my gig by a volunteer crew of chief petty officers in a 
half gale of wind and a driving rain. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE GENEKAL BOAKD, AERONAUTICS, AND NAVAI. POWER 

I WENT at once to Greenwich, Connecticut, where my 
little family was staying at the Edgewood Hotel; 
and from there in a few days we went to Newport, where 
the General Board was in session at the war college. 

The General Board had a large room with clerical 
offices attached, and I soon fell into step with the work. 
It was of the most interesting kind possible, and I found 
that it was carried on with the most remarkable absence 
of anything like personal self-seeking. There were eight 
officers on the board, and each of these had a commander 
or lieutenant-commander as assistant, who had no vote 
in the deliberations of the board. The aim of every 
man seemed merely to be to find out and urge whatever 
was best for the navy, and it was considered a virtue 
in a man to be willing to say that he had made a mistake 
and to change his opinion on proper evidence. Noth- 
ing was considered more deplorable than pride of opin- 
ion. 

On the first of October the General Board went to 
Washington and resumed its work in its large rooms in 
the Mills Building, near the Navy Department. Ad- 
miral Dewey did not go to Newport in the summers, but 
he always met the board on or about the first of October 
in Washington. 

I went with my family to Washington, and engaged a 
pleasant apartment in Stoneleigh Court. We enjoyed 
the Washington winter tremendously, with its round of 
simple entertainments among friends, and splendid en- 
tertainments in the official circles, and the general air 
of leisure and cleanliness and quiet. 

476 



AEKONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 477 

When I first became a member of the board, the duty to 
which I was specially assigned was that of material, — 
that is, the general subject of ships, guns, etc., — but about 
the first of December ''Tommy" Howard was promoted 
to the grade of rear-admiral and given command of a 
division in the fleet, and I was promoted to take charge 
of his section, which was the section that dealt with 
war plans. On this section I had two assistants. Com- 
mander Hoogewerff and Lieutenant-Commander Madi- 
son. 

I gradually realized, to my disappointment, that the 
war plans of the General Board were so general in char- 
acter as hardly to be war plans at all, and to consist 
mainly of information of all kinds concerning various 
countries, accompanied with suggestions for the comman- 
der-in-chief of the fleet. I found, also, that the work of 
the General Board was much less influential in guiding the 
strategy of the navy than I had supposed. I knew that 
the General Board had no legal status, and that its func- 
tions were advisory only; but I had not known before 
how uncertain was its hold upon the navy, and how care- 
ful Admiral Dewey had to be in regard to the attitude of 
the General Board toward the Na\'y Department lest the 
General Board be abolished altogether. When I reached 
Washington on the first of October, 1910, the General 
Board had been in existence about eight years. There 
had always been some jealousy of it on the part of the 
bureau chiefs, each of whom, with an occasional excep- 
tion here and there, had resented any suggestion of the 
General Board which seemed to him to interfere in any 
way with his prerogatives as chief of bureau. Secretary 
Meyer was said to be heartily in favor of the General 
Board, because he found that it was of great assistance 
to him in making recommendations along lines with which 
he could not be familiar, and which he did not have time 
to study. This was a great advantage ; but it was not so 
great an advantage as it might seem to be, from the fact 
that the bureau chiefs were the assistants of the secre- 



478 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tary by law, whereas the General Board did not exist by 
law at all. Two of the four aids, Rear-Admiral Wain- 
wright and Captain F. F. Fletcher, who had succeeded 
Admiral Swift as "Aid for Material," were members 
of the General Board; and because of this, and because 
of the unanimity of purpose of the aids and the General 
Board, the two organizations got on together extremely 
well. Admiral Dewey, of course, was the paramount 
figure on the board; in fact, without his prestige the 
board could not have survived. Admiral Dewey handled 
the board with exceeding skill, keeping himself in the 
background and never taking part in any discussions, but 
nevertheless keeping a tight rein, which all of us felt, 
though none of us saw. One day he came into my rooili, 
where I was discussing a matter with some officers, and 
said, with that pleasant lack of dignity which he some- 
times assumed, "Fiske is just like a midshipman; he 
takes his hands out of his pockets whenever he sees me 
coming. ' ' 

In conformity with the promise which I had made to 
myself in the Strait of Magellan, I took up the study of 
aeronautics shortly after reaching Washington. There 
was not much to learn then for a man who had the 
knowledge of mechanics that I had gradually acquired in 
my experience as inventor and navy officer ; in fact, I was 
surprised to find how little there was to learn, and how 
little had been done, especially by armies and navies, and 
especially by our army and navy. Some years after- 
ward Lord Northcliffe told me that he was with the 
"Wright Brothers a great deal when they first went to 
Europe after they had made their memorable flight in 
1903, and that the only government that took up the mat- 
ter very seriously was the Italian Government. He 
added that the German Government was not very far 
behind, but that the British and French governments 
were inmaeasurably so. 

I had never known much about war plans before join- 
ing the General Board, but I had supposed that war 



AERONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 479 

plans were of the kind concerning which the story was 
told (and believed) that when the war broke out between 
France and Prussia, and Moltke was wakened one night 
and informed officially that war had been declared, he 
roused himself to say that the plans and orders could be 
found in a certain drawer in a certain desk, and then 
turned over in bed and went to sleep. To my surprise, I 
could find no such plans or any project for making any. 
As I was the head of the section on war plans, that duty 
seemed to devolve upon me; but I realized that I was 
wholly unequal to a task that required the very highest 
qualities of strategic knowledge and ability. I knew 
nothing whatever about making war plans. I had been 
a good captain of a ship, but as captain of a ship I had 
been merely carrying out duties for which I had been 
educated during a naval career of nearly forty years. I 
had not been educated in making war plans, and I did 
not know anybody who had. The man who came the 
closest to knowing about things of that kind was Captain 
T. M. Potts, who was chief intelligence officer of the navy, 
and member of the board, and who had served for three 
years in Germany as naval attache. Potts told me that 
the German Naval General Staff, like the German Army 
General Staff, kept a score or more of officers at work 
making war plans, and that these officers had been spe- 
cially selected for the task and trained for it afterward 
during many years. He told me that the General Staff 
not only made out war plans, but also, as accessory to 
the war plans, made plans which covered all the tactical 
and strategical drills and manoeuvers of the fleet; and 
that, when these tactical and strategical drills and 
manoeuvers were carried out by the fleet, certain mem- 
bers of the General Staff would go out with the fleet as 
observers, and note how their plans were being carried 
out, for the double purpose of noting and comparing the 
degrees of skill of the various officers and of seeing where 
the drills could be altered and improved. 

After my conversations with Potts, I came to feel thai 



480 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

though the system of training of our officers was good it 
had not advanced far enough. It looked to me a case of 
arrested development. It seemed to me that the navy- 
had progressed up to a certain point and then ceased to 
progress, or at least that it had ceased to progress as far 
as the German Navy had. This was an explanation to me 
of why we had tactical drills in the fleet, but did not have 
fleet tactics. 

In thinking about the possibilities of aeronautics and 
the fact that our so called ''war plans" seemed to con- 
tain no definite plan for doing any definite thing, I sud- 
denly saw what seemed to me a way to making a distinct 
suggestion. At this time it was supposed that, in case 
war broke out with Japan, the Japanese would imme- 
diately take possession of the Philippine Islands by land- 
ing a very large force of men upon the unprotected shores 
of the island of Luzon ; and that the United States would 
then have to send out a tremendous fleet to fight the 
Japanese fleet in its home waters, as Russia had done six 
years before. That prospect was far from alluring, and 
so the idea which came to me seemed not bad in the cir- 
cumstances. My idea was to prevent the Japanese from 
landing at all by using aeroplanes against them while they 
were trying to land. I pointed out to myself that the 
Japanese would have to send any invading party in a 
large number of lightly constructed transports ; that when 
those transports got near the coasts of Luzon, they would 
have to stop and get out large numbers of boats, and 
bring those boats alongside the transports; that they 
would then have to fill those boats with troops, equip- 
ments, ammunition, and arms of different sorts; that 
those heavily filled boats would then have to be towed 
very slowly toward the shore in some place where the 
water was smooth; that those boats would then have to 
be discharged on the beach ; and that during all that time 
the boats and the transports would be almost perfectly 
helpless, especially the boats, if large numbers of aero- 
planes hovered over them and dropped bombs upon them. 




Photo, Clindinst 






t0^//^' 



^ J' 




AERONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 481 

I talked over this matter with Admiral Dewey and 
certain members of the board individuallj^ and most of 
them seemed to think that the idea was worth proposing. 
So I brought it up one day before a meeting of the 
board; but the Aid for Operations became so extremely 
emphatic in his protest against taking up the time of 
the General Board with "wild-cat schemes" that I had to 
give it up for the time being. 

My scheme comprehended the establishment on the 
Island of Luzon of four aeronautic stations, each of 
which should be fitted with at least a hundred aeroplanes, 
with the proper personnel and equipment. I proposed 
this scheme in the winter of 1910 and 1911. 7 think this 
was the first proposal for using aeroplanes for major 
operations. 

Of course aeroplanes were so used, and with great 
success, in the great war, and I have always thought it 
unfortunate that my recommendation was not adopted 
by the board. If it had been adopted then, Secretary 
Meyer would undoubtedly have backed it, and with it the 
utilization and development of aeronautics; and recent 
history might have been different from what it has been. 
In fact, it would have been different, very different ; so 
different, that the United States would have entered the 
great war, prepared to render immediate service of the 
most important kind and hasten greatly the winning of 
the war. 

Throughout my cruise in the Tennessee I had had my 
range-finder on the forward turret, and had used it on 
all occasions when practicable ; but the engrossing nature 
of my duties had prevented me from paying much atten- 
tion to it, especially at target-practice. I had become 
more and more convinced, however, of the excellence of 
the scheme which I had patented of having a ' * combined 
range-finder and turret, ' ' and had determined to take up 
the plan seriously as soon as I should get on shore again. 
I saw, however, that in order to get the best results, I 
should have to make some changes in mechanical de- 



482 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tails, and possibly to reconstruct tlie actual instrument. 
Imagine my feelings when I found out as soon as I took 
up my duties on shore that the fire-control board had 
recommended that a turret range-finder be built into one 
of the turrets of the New York, which wa's then -about 
half-way finished, and that later battle-ships also should 
be fitted with turret range-finders in case the one in the 
New York proved to be a success ! It did prove to be a 
success, and all battle-ships constructed since then have 
been fitted with turret range-finders. Besides recom- 
mending the adoption of the turret range-finder, the 
board also recommended the adoption of the plotting sys- 
tem which I had suggested in my essay, called * ' Courage 
and Prudence," three years before. 

This made me feel that I had not lived in vain, for 
two important inventions of mine had just been adopted. 
So, though my humble name was not mentioned in con- 
nection with either of them, and though my pioneer ex- 
periments with one of them had cost me more than six 
thousand dollars, I was content. 

I had also made up my mind to make a new and en- 
larged horizometer as soon as I should get on shore. 
While making the passage frcfm Bremerton to Hampton 
Roads, I made a careful design of an instrument, and 
shortly after my arrival in Washington I engaged the 
John A. Brashear Company of Pittsburgh to construct 
it. They made a very handsome instrument, but my ex- 
periments with it were not completed when I went to sea 
in October the following year. So I took it with me to 
the Washington when the Washington became my flag- 
ship. 

But the main occupation of my leisure hours on the 
long sea-trip on the Tennessee was pondering on the 
theory which I had conceived, that navies and armies 
are merely applications and developments of savage 
weapons, of which the earliest was the club. I had to 
work entirely under my own guidance, for I found my- 



AERONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 483 

self in a field that seemed entirely new. I had not 
finished my endeavor to express my theory in an essay, 
when I reached Hampton Roads, but I continued to 
work on it during the autumn. I did not succeed as 
well as I had hoped, but I finally produced a fairly 
coherent essay, which I called ''Naval Power." When 
I finally stopped work on it, it was not because I 
was quite satisfied, but because the competition in which 
I desired to enter it closed on December 31. When I 
sent it in, I realized that I was making an attempt that 
was rather dangerous for a member of the General Board 
to make, because it was not altogether orthodox. I real- 
ized, however, that I could not justly be accused of trying 
to spread a doctrine which had been disapproved, for 
the simple reason that the doctrine I was suggesting 
was entirely new. 

The essay began by pointing out how much influence 
Mahan's books had had in inducing nations to enlarge 
their navies ; but showed that the sea power which Mahan 
wrote about was not really sea power, but naval power, 
and that the effect of a merchant marine was not to 
increase the power of a navy except in the way in which 
all sources of wealth in a nation increased it ; but to act 
primarily as a responsibility, and therefore a handicap. 
I showed also that, while the idea in most people's minds 
of naval power is extremely vague, and, in fact, that 
''naval power" exists only as a phrase in most men's 
consciousness, yet that nevertheless naval power was a 
distinct and tangible thing, because it was merely me- 
chanical power. I showed also the practical value of 
realizing that it was mechanical power, because that real- 
ization made the subject a concrete subject instead of an 
abstract subject, and pointed out a clear line along which 
to work when endeavoring to improve our navy. 

I showed also that naval power had two attributes 
which mechanical power always requires for its proper 
management, and which I called ''controllability and di- 



484 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

rectability. " If this be granted, the analogy between a 
fleet and the club wielded by Cain, or by any other sav- 
age, stands out clear. 

Proceeding on the basis that armies and navies are 
effective because they exert mechanical power, I showed 
that a navy must be more powerful than an army, be- 
cause the floating properties of water make it possible to 
move larger masses over water than can be moved over 
land. Figuring out the mechanical power of a ship and 
of an army in terms of the masses moved and the velocity 
with which they are moved, I showed that a battle-ship 
like the Arkansas was more powerful than an army of six 
hundred thousand men. 

After discussing the nature of naval power, my essay 
discussed the primary use of a navy. My idea was to 
point out that, in order to defend the United States, it 
would not be sufficient to defend her from absolute in- 
vasion, because it was necessary to defend it from block- 
ade as well. The essay pointed out that the primary use 
of the navy is to defend our great sea-ports from block- 
ade; and also that the injury which a blockade could in- 
flict on the United States was very great indeed. The 
reason why it could inflict great injury was that the 
United States was not primarily an agricultural country, 
but an industrial country, the whole system of which 
had become highly complicated, and every part of which 
depended on every other part. Concerning the interde- 
pendence of parts, one paragraph read: 

The organization for effecting this is so excellent and so 
wonderful, that it is like a machine. In fact it is a machine, 
and with all the faults of a machine. Now one of the faults 
of a machine, a fault which increases in importance with the 
complexity of the machine, is the enormous disturbance which 
may be produced by a cause seemingly trivial. 

The tremendous disturbance which would be produced 
by a blockade of our coast was then analyzed and de- 
scribed, and it was pointed out that a great part of the 



AERONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 485 

effect would be caused simply by the suddenness of the 
change which would be brought about. One paragraph 
read: 

The sudden stoppage of our sea trade, including our coast- 
ing trade, by even a partial blockade of our ports, would change 
practically all the conditions under which we live. There is 
hardly a single organization in the country which would not be 
affected by it. 

Another paragraph read: 

It will be seen, therefore, that the blockading of the prin- 
cipal ports of any purely commercial country would be a dis- 
aster so great that there could not be a greater one, except 
actual invasion. 

The essay then pointed out that the most effective 
single agency that saved the Union in our Civil War was 
not the army, but the navy; or, more strictly speaking, 
the navy's blockade of the Southern coast, which made 
it impossible for the Confederacy to keep its army ade- 
quately armed, provisioned and equipped. 
- The essay then proceeded to point out the danger of 
having our navy drop behind the navies of other great 
countries, not only because a powerful navy is a de- 
fense in war, but because it is a preventive of war. 
One sentence ran, ''Other factors being equal, tJie great- 
est probability of war is between two countries of which 
one is the more ivealthy and the other the more power- 
ful." Another sentence ran, "The most pregnant cause 
of war is the combination of conflicting interests with 
disparity in power." 

Another sentence read : 

We must realize that it is not enough to consider the situa- 
tion as it is now; but it is necessary to look at least ten years 
ahead; because it will take the United States that length of 
time to prepare a navy powerful enough to fight our possible 
foes with reasonable assurance of success. 



486 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Of course, this did not mean that it would require ten 
years to build the ships, and other material. That would 
be a manufacturing job which could, if necessary, be ac- 
complished in perhaps a quarter of the time. It meant 
that it would take ten years at least to produce a navy 
which not only was large enough materially, but which 
had within itself the means for handling itself skilfully. 
I knew, of course, as a naval officer, that the most difficult 
problem before a navy is not material, but mental and 
spiritual. 

Ships and guns no more make a navy than bones and 
muscles make a man. The difficult part about making a 
good navy is not to make its ships and guns, any more 
than the difficult part about making a good man is to make 
his bones and muscles. Furthermore, the larger a navy 
becomes, and the more highly its various units are spe- 
cialized, the more difficult becomes the problem of 
handling it skilfully. A navy is merely a development 
of the club. Cain could learn to use his club skilfully 
in a very short time. The spear that followed the club, 
and the bow and arrow that followed the spear, and all 
the weapons that have been successfully developed as 
civilization has advanced, have become increasingly diffi- 
cult, not to handle, but to handle with skill. 

It may be pointed out here that the more highly de- 
veloped instruments have become, the easier it often is 
to handle them, but the more difficult to handle them ivith 
skill. It is easier to actuate the most elaborate pipe- 
organ, for instance, than it is to actuate a flute, but it 
is more difficult to handle it with skill. The ease with 
which large and highly efficient instruments like, say, a 
navy can be handled, has misled many people into sup- 
posing that it is easy to handle them with skill ; whereas 
the contrary is the case. 

It is easier to handle a navy than a cluh, because one 
has simply to give orders; but it is more difficult to handle 
a navy skilfully than it is to handle a club skilfully. 

The essay was then devoted to showing that the neces- 



AERONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 487 

sity of naval power to a country like the United States 
would increase as her trade increased, and that the de- 
velopment of mechanism was going to bring about a 
world-wide race for wealth, which would bring about 
world-wide causes of friction and possible war. It 
pointed out the inability of any kind of schemes of arbi- 
tration to prevent war forever, and showed that, when 
war finally did come to a country, the difference between 
prosperity and disaster would rest wholly on the out- 
come of the war. One paragraph read : 

This does not mean that the United States ought, as a matter 
either of ethics or of policy, to build a great navy, in order to 
take unjust advantage of weaker nations; but it does mean that 
she ought to build a navy great enough to save her from being 
shorn of her wealth and glory by simple force, as France was 
shorn in 1871. 

The essay then combatted the theory that a great navy 
was not needed for the United States, and that it was 
needed for countries like Great Britain only to prevent 
them from starving. It pointed out that, while it was 
true that Great Britain did need a navy to prevent the 
starvation of her people in case of war, yet the inference 
usually drawn was fallacious; the inference that, if Great 
Britain were not situated as she is, she would not have 
so great a navy. Another paragraph read as follows : 

The main reason for Great Britain's having a powerful navy 
applies with exact equality to the United States. Now that 
Great Britain has proved how great a navy is best for her, we 
can see at once how great a navy is best for us. That is, — since 
Great Britain and the United States are the wealthiest countries 
in the world, and since the probability of war between any two 
countries is least when their navies are equal in power, the 
maximum good would be attained by making the United States 
navy exactly equal to the British navy. 

I think that this was the first declaration ever published 
of a doctrine that now has many advocates. 

In the middle of February the Naval Institute an- 



488 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

nounced that my essay had received *' honorable men- 
tion." The first prize went to a paymaster for an essay 
on ''Navy Yard Economy." 

My essay attracted almost no attention whatever, 
though it was copied and translated in some foreign 
service magazines. Most officers whom I met seemed 
inclined to smile at it, and not to take it very seriously, 
especially the mechanical analogy. One part that I had 
feared might arouse the disapproval of the General 
Board — the part saying that the primary use of the navy 
was to prevent blockade — was accepted without much 
comment. 

Five years later Mr. Waldemar Kaempffert, editor of 
the Popular Science Monthly, asked me to rewrite that 
part of my essay which pointed out the superior power 
of navies as compared with armies, bringing the figures 
up to date, and to contribute it to his magazine, as he 
wished to call attention to the desirability of building up 
our navy. With the consent of the Naval Institute I 
did this. The number for October, 1915, of the Popular 
Science Monthly published this article very prominently, 
headed it in large type, "If Battleships Ran on Land," 
and illustrated it wdth a full-page picture showing a bat- 
tle-ship running on wheels over New York and knocking 
down the buildings. One paragraph ran as follows : 

Inherent Power of a Battleship. — Possibly the declaration may 
be accepted now that a battleship of 30,000 tons, such as the 
navies are building now, with, say, twelve 14-inch guns, is a 
greater example of power, under absolute direction and con- 
trol, than anything else existing; and that the main reason is 
the concentration of a tremendous amount of mechanical energy 
in a very small space, all made available by certain properties 
of water. Nothing like a ship can be made to run on shore; 
but if an automobile could be constructed, carrying twelve 14- 
inch guns, twenty-two 5-inch guns, and four torpedo-tubes, of 
the size of the Pennsylvania, and with her armor, able to run 
over the land in any direction at 20 knots, propelled by engines 
of 31,000 horse-power, it could whip an army of a million men 
just as quickly as it could get hold of its component parts. Such 



AEEONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 489 

a machine could start at one end of an army and go through 
to the other, like a mowing-machine through a field of wheat; 
and knock down all the buildings in New York afterward, smash 
all the cars, break down all the bridges, and sink all the ship- 
ping. 

This article attracted considerable attention in Eng- 
land from the military papers and others. The British 
"tanks," or ''land battle-ships," appeared in some- 
what less than a year afterward. 

Shortly after I arrived in Washington, and while I was 
finishing my essay, Captain Dion Williams of the Marine 
Corps told me that he had narrated many times the story 
of my picking up a man at sea in the Minneapolis, but 
that nobody would believe it ; and he said he wished that 
I would write something verifying the story. So I wrote 
a short article describing it, which I called, ''An Un- 
precedented Rescue," and the Naval Institute published 
it six months before it published my essay. The story 
aroused the greatest interest everywhere, and was read 
by probably a thousand times more people than read the 
essay. I took one day to write the story, and ten months 
to write the essay. 

In the spring of 1911, seeing that I would probably be 
promoted to rear-admiral during the coming summer, I 
made official application to be ordered to take command 
of a division in the fleet as soon as the first vacancy should 
occur. 

Sometime in May I was asked by the Alumni Associa- 
tion of the Naval Academy to deliver the principal speech 
at the annual dinner in June in reply to the toast, "The 
Navy. ' ' 

I accepted the invitation with pleasure, because it gave 
me an opportunity to point out some things about the 
navy that were sometimes overlooked. One paragraph 
in my address was as follows : 

Navies preserve the peace, not among individuals, but among 
the nations; and on board of their own ships they set the best 



490 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

example of peaceful living. Peace is the absence of strife ; and 
how can there be much strife on board a ship of war, where 
Law and Justice reign together, where no opportunity for com- 
mercial fraud or oppression can exist, where the daily life is 
arduous and healthful, where every one's status is defined, and 
every one's rights respected? 

The intention of this paragraph was to point out that 
the accusations which politicians were constantly mak- 
ing against armies and navies, that the military life 
(militarism) is an instrument of oppression and a cause 
of misery, are absolutely false. The two last paragraphs 
were as follows : 

How clear it is that the tremendous progress in civiliza- 
tion which steam and electricity brought to Europe and 
America, is now spreading rapidly over all the lands and oceans ; 
how clear that countries now ignored will soon demand a hear- 
ing; how clear that the desirable portions of the earth are very 
unequally divided among the nations, as regards both possession 
and control; that Germany is not content with only a million 
scjuare miles and Japan with only two hundred thousand, when 
CJreat Britain has more than eleven million; how clear that 
Germany and Japan and China are gathering strength to- burst 
their bonds; how clear that the problem of living peacefully 
together has been solved on only a microscopic scale; how clear 
that the struggles between individuals, tribes- and nations must 
still go on, but on wider fields; how clear that wars between 
small states are soon to be supplanted by wars between vast 
races. 

We, the people of the United States, must realize all this. 
We must refuse to listen to false prophets who prophesy smooth 
things proved impossible by history. We must not forget, in 
the immediate family of kindred countries, that many discon- 
tented nations and many alien races are around us. We must 
look to the future of all the world, and not to only a little part ; 
we must hold fast to the ideals that made this country great ; 
we must keep alive our military spirit. If we do not, we shall 
lose everything for which our fathers fought, and take our place 
among the degenerate nations of the earth. 



AERONAUTICS AND NAVAL POWER 491 

I went that summer with the General Board to the 
war college at Newport, but lived at the Bay View Hotel 
in Jamestown, opposite. In the early part of August 
I was ordered for examination for promotion. At this 
time there were only two men left in my class of thirty, 
Bowyer and I, and Bowyer was in such bad health that it 
was sure that he could not be promoted. I was so for- 
tunate to pass my examination without difficulty. After I 
had passed it, I felt a profound sense of gratitude and 
humility, with a curious mixture of incredulity, that of all 
the thirty men who stood up on graduation day thirty- 
seven years before, I, who was the slightest man in all 
the class, and whose performance during the final year 
at the academy had been most unofficer-like, should be 
the only one to become a rear-admiral. 

I returned to Newport and to my pleasant quarters at 
the Bay View Hotel. The following evening, when I went 
down to the dining-room, I found the entire population 
of the hotel waiting for me in the hall outside. I was 
made to feel quite like a hero for about five minutes. 

As Rear-Admiral Wainwright, the President of the 
United States Naval Institute, was to retire in December, 
and it was known that Rear- Admiral Vreeland was to 
succeed him as aid for operations, there was a movement 
started in Washington to get Vreeland elected as presi- 
dent of the institute at the annual election in October, and 
I joined in the movement. Wlien the result of the elec- 
tion was announced, I read in the Washington Post on 
October 14 that I had been elected! I was more than 
surprised, for I had had no expectation of receiving any 
such honor, and nobody had intimated to me that I was 
even being thought of for the office. Nevertheless, I was 
delighted. 

About the first of October I received my coveted orders 
to take command of a division in the fleet. At eleven 
o'clock on October 21, 1911, I stood on the quarter-deck 
of the U. S. S. Washington and read my orders to assume 
command of the fifth division. Then my two-starred flag 



492 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

was broken at the masthead, and the guns of the ships in 
the harbor fired thirteen-gun salutes. 

As I descended to the cabin from the deck, I found 
myself repeating the translation of a sentence I had read 
in some paper written by some Frenchman, "To most 
naval officers the stars of an admiral are as unattainable 
as the stars of the sky." 



CHAPTER XXXII 

COMMANDING THE FIFTH DIVISION 

MY division consisted of the Washington, Tennessee, 
North Carolina, and Montana, the same ships that 
Admiral Staunton had commanded, except that the 
Washington had taken the place of the South Dakota. 
Almost immediately after assuming command, I had to 
take my division to New York and to join the North 
Atlantic Fleet, under Rear-Admiral Osterhaus, in the re- 
view which was held during the last few days of October 
in the Hudson River. The review made a display nine 
miles long, and was said to be a spectacle that had been 
exceeded only by the International Armada, which had 
been recently assembled in Great Britain to celebrate the 
coronation of King George V. The fleet aroused tre- 
mendous attention not only from the people in New York, 
but from the press of the entire country, and the news- 
papers quoted liberally from my essay on naval power 
in order to impress the public with the enormous amount 
of power of which the pageant was an illustration. 

As commander of a division, I was allowed a flag-lieu- 
tenant and a flag-secretary, in addition to a certain cleri- 
cal force. I selected as flag-lieutenant, Lieutenant Frank: 
Russell, who had been my range-finder midshipman in the 
Tennessee; and I selected as flag-secretary. Lieutenant 
C. C. Gill. It had been the custom of flag-officers to 
select for these positions handsome young bachelors in 
order to enhance the beauty of ceremonial occasions, espe- 
cially those of a social kind ; but I selected two extremely 
staid and serious married men, and I never regretted 
my selection. Russell and Gill did extremely efficient 
service on my staff, and have continued to do efficient 
service ever since. 

After the review in New York, Osterhaus took the fleet 

493 



494 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

to Hampton Roads, and thence out to sea, on different oc- 
casions, for tactical drills. On one of these occasions I 
had to send a ship by wireless orders to a position some 
miles distant and out of sight, and shortly afterward to 
call her back. This was the first time that I had ever 
given orders by wireless, and I shall never forget the 
almost awe-struck feeling that I had, when, after telling 
the flag-lieutenant to call the North Carolina back, she 
then being several miles beyond the horizon, I saw the 
tops of her masts half an hour afterward appear above 
the horizon, and shortly afterward beheld the entire ves- 
sel, with white foam at her bow, dashing forward to re- 
join us. 

During one of the forenoon drills I received an order 
to proceed to Hampton Roads immediately with the 
Washington and North Carolina, and get ready to go to 
San Domingo, taking the American Minister with me on 
board the Washington. 

I left the column at once with my two ships, and was 
soon at anchor on a beautiful bright afternoon in Hamp- 
ton Roads. Minister W. W. Russell came on board 
shortly afterward, and informed me that he had been 
on leave in Washington, that news had been received that 
the President of San Domingo had been murdered one 
afternoon in one of the streets of San Domingo, that 
considerable confusion reigned there, and that he had 
been ordered back to ascertain and report the condi- 
tion of affairs and look out for American interests, with, 
he said with a smile, ''the assistance of Admiral Fiske." 

We had a pleasant trip down, and I found Russell a 
delightful shipmate. He had been graduated from the 
naval academy a few years after me, but had resigned 
from the navy later and entered the diplomatic service. 
He had spent about fourteen years since then in Spanish 
American countries, and had consequently become 
familiar with the characteristics of Spanish-American 
people and with the beautiful Spanish language. 



COMMANDING THE FIFTH DIVISION 495 

When in the neighborhood of the Bahamas, we got into 
a considerable gale, and I received a wireless telegraph 
from a merchant steamer, reporting that she had run 
ashore in a dangerous position, and asking for assistance. 
I sent the North Carolina to the rescue, a duty which de- 
tained her about twenty-four hours. 

We arrived at San Domingo City on Sunday soon 
after noon, and Mr. Russell went ashore in his capacity 
as American Minister soon afterward. He remained 
away most of the afternoon, and when he returned a 
little before sunset he told me that the condition of affairs 
on shore was very serious, not so much on account of 
the local conditions, as because the Government and the 
people were excited over news that had been received to 
the effect that a very prominent San Domingan rebel 
named Horatio Vasquez, then in exile in St. Thomas, was 
about to head a large party, and invade San Domingo, 
where he had many secret supporters. 

After talking the matter over with the minister, I said 
that perhaps the report might not be true, and that un- 
less he had some objection, I would go at once to St. 
Thomas and find out what were the facts, adding that, 
if the report was true, I might be able to bring such 
pressure to bear upon the governor as to prevent the 
sailing of any hostile expedition from St. Thomas. I 
added that I expected the Wheeling that evening, and 
that I thought she could take the place of the Washington 
during the few days of my absence. 

The minister said that he had no objection whatever; 
in fact, that he considered it a very good idea. So the 
Washington made immediate preparations for sea, and 
when the Wheeling came in late that evening, I explained 
the situation to her captain. Commander Brittain, and 
started for St. Thomas about midnight. 

The next forenoon I sent a wireless message to the 
American consul in St. Thomas, asking him to arrange 
an audience for me with the governor for the following 



496 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

morning, and also to arrange a meeting, if possible, with 
Horatio Vasquez. 

I had a satisfactory audience with the governor the 
following forenoon, in which I described the disturbing 
effect which the reported activities of Vasquez were hav- 
ing on the people in San Domingo, and I pointed out that, 
as San Domingo was virtually under the protectorate of 
the United States, the permitting of a hostile expedition 
from St. Thomas against San Domingo would be almost 
the same thing as permitting a hostile expedition from 
St. Thomas against the United States. The governor 
was evidently impressed with the gravity of the situa- 
tion as I described it, and he promised to call on me that 
afternoon at three o'clock and tell me then what meas- 
ures he had decided on. 

I then went with the consul to the consulate, accom- 
panied by my two aids, we being, of course, in uniform. 
The consul told me that he had communicated with 
Vasquez, and had asked him to meet me at the consulate, 
but that he was not at all sure that Vasquez would come. 
He added that people living in exile, especially Spanish- 
Americans were extremely suspicious of everybody, and 
that this was not surprising. I waited for an hour, but 
Vasquez did not appear. I then departed, asking the 
consul to tell Vasquez that I should be glad to see him on 
board the Washington that afternoon, and take any mes- 
sage back to San Domingo that he might wish. The 
consul told me that he would deliver the message, but he 
felt absolutely sure that Vasquez would not risk his safety 
on board the Washington. He did not. 

The Governor called on me that afternoon and gave me 
the most emphatic and earnest assurances that he had 
had a careful watch set on Vasquez, and that he would 
prevent him from setting forth on any hostile expedition 
from St. Thomas. 

I started back to San Domingo that evening, and ar- 
rived two days later. On the morning following our de- 
parture I received a wireless message from Vasquez, say- 



COMMANDING THE FIFTH DIVISION 497 

ing that he regretted that he had not seen me, and adding, 
'*I am for peace. '^ That same forenoon I sent a wire- 
less message to the Wheeling, stating what had happened 
in St. Thomas, and directing that the information be 
transmitted at once to the American Minister. 

On our arrival at San Domingo I found that this in- 
formation had been transmitted by the minister to the 
Government, and by the Government to the people, and 
that a condition of tranquillity had been established im- 
mediately. 

I reported these circumstances to the Navy Depart- 
ment. About a month later I received a letter in reply, 
and with it a copy of a letter from the State Department, 
which read as follows: 

Department of State, 

Washington, 
December 22, 1911. 
The Honorable 

The Secretary of the Navy. 
Sir: 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
of the 15th instant, enclosing an interesting report made by the 
Commander of the Fifth Division of the U. S. Atlantic fleet, 
concerning affairs in the Dominican Republic. 

I have the honor to thank you for this report, and to re- 
quest that an expression of the appreciation of this Department 
may be conveyed to the Commanding Officer. 
I have the honor to be, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

P. C. Knox, Secretary of State. 
839.00/453 

After a stay of about three weeks, affairs in San 
Domingo reached their usual stage of apparent, but un- 
stable, tranquillity, and the Washington and North Caro- 
lina were relieved by two gun-boats, and ordered north 
to Hampton Roads. On arriving, I was ordered to re- 
port to the Navy Department, to confer with the aid of 
operations, and when there I was told that I would receive 



498 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

orders shortly to take my division to Newport to report 
to the commander-in-chief and take part in a fleet 
strategic game. 

After reporting to the commander-in-chief, and receiv- 
ing my instructions, I proceeded to Hampton Roads with 
my division; while the other division commanders went 
to other ports, to get ready for the game. My division 
started out from Hampton Roads on the afternoon of 
the third of January, when the weather was as beautiful 
as one ever saw; but Captain Peake, who had been pilot- 
ing in those waters for many years, told me he saw 
certain signs in the air, and in the clouds, which indicated 
a violent northwest gale. 

The next day was good, but with an increasing north- 
westerly wind, and when I was called at daybreak the fol- 
lowing morning, with the report that "the enemy" had 
been sighted, I found that the northwesterly gale which 
the pilot had predicted was blowing with great violence. 
The enemy which was sighted proved to be the RJiode 
Island. Because of the superior speed of the Washing- 
ton, and the fact that her comparatively sharp bow en- 
abled her to behave better in the heavy seas than did the 
Rhode Island's bluff bow, I was able to cut off the RJiode 
Island from the rest of her force, none of which was then 
in sight. 

The weather kept getting worse not only in the violence 
of the wind and the roughness of the sea, but in rain and 
fog. I did not see any of the other enemy ships that 
day, and I realized from the condition of affairs on board 
the Washington that it would not be practicable to carry 
out the operations as they had been planned, especially 
with the destroyers, for we began to receive very dis- 
turbing accounts of them by wireless. We could not see 
the sun, and therefore no vessel could ascertain its own 
position accurately, or tell the direction and distance 
from itself of any other vessel. That night I ran the 
Washington at a speed of thirteen knots in an endeavor 
to find Admiral Howard. A most uncomfortable night it 



COMMANDING THE FIFTH DIVISION 499 

was for everybody, though we had no anxiety for the 
safety of any vessel except the destroyers. The Wash- 
ington, however, had four boats badly damaged, and sus- 
tained a number of minor injuries. The following after- 
noon the commander-in-chief, in view of the wide disper- 
sion of the vessels and the uncertainty of their positions, 
and because of the dangerous condition of some of the 
destroyers, was forced to abandon the game and order the 
ships to various rendezvous. 

Our rendezvous was just north of Bermuda, and I re- 
member a wonderful forenoon we had there, when the 
sea was only a little rough, and an exhilarating and abat- 
ing northwest breeze was blowing. That afternoon the 
Washington and North Carolina started for Hampton 
Eoads by order. We immediately got into another gale 
just as bad as the preceding one, and on reaching the 
neighborhood of Cape Henry I had to anchor my two 
ships on the southern drill-ground in a northeast gale 
and snow-storm and wait for the weather to clear. 

On the following day we were able to go into Hampton 
Eoads and anchor. Other vessels came in soon, includ- 
ing some destroyers, and we learned then that no de- 
stroyer had been lost, although some had been badly 
damaged. 

I was ordered to report in person at the Navy De- 
partment. On doing so, I was told that I was to go with 
the Washington and North Carolina to Key West to take 
part in certain ceremonies there, connected with the com- 
pletion of the railroad which had been laid on bridges 
over the Florida Keys and the water between them. I 
went to the Hydrographic Office to get the latest informa- 
tion concerning the channels and harbor of Key West, 
as I had not been there for many years. I had become 
much impressed with the strategic importance of Key 
West, but knew that that importance was very much les- 
sened by the fact that the channel was narrow and the 
bottom was hard coral; and because of this, large ves- 
sels had not dared to enter it. I knew that during the 



500 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Spanish War all tlie large ships had anchored outside in 
open water. In talking over the matter with the hydro- 
grapher, a captain in the navy, I told him that I thought 
it would be a very good thing if the navy could use Key 
"West Harbor, and that I thought I would make a sys- 
tematic effort when there to find out if it could not be 
done. The hydrographer said that he would be very 
much obliged to me if I would do so, but he advised me 
to be very careful, because the bottom was very hard 
and full of hard coral lumps. I pointed out to him that 
the chart showed that there was enough water in the 
channel for the Washington and North Carolina to go 
right up to the city, and I said that I was thinking of 
risking the attempt. The hydrographer urged me very 
earnestly not to make the attempt, as it would be en- 
tirely too dangerous. 

We arrived outside the harbor of Key West at day- 
break on January 21. I had sent a word to the com- 
mandant by wireless the night before, telling him that I 
should arrive on the following morning, and asking his 
advice about trying to enter the channel with my two 
ships. Shortly after arriving, the navy-yard tug came 
down with a pilot on board, who said that the command- 
ant had told him to tell me that he would not give me 
any advice whatever about trying to enter the channel. 
My ships drew twenty-eight feet of water each, and the 
pilot told me that the deepest-draft vessel that had ever 
gone up the channel had drawn only twenty-five feet and 
eight inches. After some conversation with the pilot, and 
realizing what a fine thing it would be if I could prove 
that Key West could take big-draft ships, I decided to 
try to take the Washington up. 

So leaving the North Carolina outside, I started up 
the channel, going as slowly as the Washington could go ; 
telling the navy-yard tug to precede the Washington, sta- 
tioning men by the water-tight doors, and taking all pre- 
cautions possible. Although a very nervous man, I did 
not feel in the slightest degree nervous on this occasion, 



COMMANDING THE FIFTH DIVISION 501 

although I realized that if any undiscovered coral-lump 
was touched, our bottom would be broken in, and I would 
be immediately relieved of my command and disgraced. 
My reasoning was that, although no other ship drawing 
so much water had gone up there before, yet it was virtu- 
ally impossible for a channel which was so short and nar- 
row, and which was used so much, to have in it any dan- 
gers that had not been discovered. Whether my action 
was justifiable or not, I am not sure. I think that it was, 
because of the great good that would result (and did re- 
sult) from proving the harbor to be available for large 
ships, and because of the comparatively small danger ex- 
cept to my own career. 

We threaded the channel, and anchored off the town 
in perfect safety, much to the delight of the people of the 
town; and the North Carolina followed. Since that time 
Key West has been continually used by large vessels. On 
the morning following our arrival the Key West Citizen 
published a report of our arrival, in which were the fol- 
lowing paragraphs : 

. "The Washington, flag ship, and the North Carolina arrived 
yesterday afternoon, and the Birmingham came in early this 
morning. The arrival of these big fighting craft to take part 
in the celebration is of the greatest importance to this port ; 
for the reason that the two cruisers, North Carolina and Wash- 
ington, draw 28 feet of water each, and are the deepest draught 
vessels that have ever been brought into this harbor. 

"Admiral Fiske, in addition to bringing his ships here and 
adding to the interest of the celebration, has done Key West 
a great service in demonstrating the fact that deep draught 
vessels can be brought into the inner harbor with safety." 

After a brief stay here, we were again ordered to 
Hampton Roads, where we anchored in the midst of a 
great deal of floating ice. We were ordered from there 
to the Norfolk Navy-yard, to have certain alterations 
made in the cabins, because Secretary Knox was about to 
make a trip in the Washington to Central America. I 



502 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

was given permission to leave the ship and proceed home 
until such time as the Washington should return. 

When I arrived home, which was in Washington, I 
found that the Fifth Division would probably be broken 
up, and that some other ships would be put out of com- 
mission, because the navy was beginning to feel the short- 
age of men, which was occasioned by a rapid increase in 
the number of ships without a corresponding increase in 
the number of men for manning them. 

While I was in Washington a memorial parade took 
place in which the bones of more than sixty men, taken 
from the Maine, were buried at Arlington. The pre- 
liminary arrangements for the ceremonies provided for 
the detail of a brigadier-general to take command of the 
parade. I knew that this was probably because no naval 
officers of high rank were then in Washington whose 
duties would permit them the time to prepare the parade ; 
but it seemed to me that it would be incongruous to have 
an army officer command a parade in honor of the burial 
of navy men. So I went to Captain Potts, who was then 
aid for personnel, and volunteered for the duty. Potts 
accepted my offer with alacrity, and I received my orders 
forthwith. 

I found that my command numbered about 2100 men; 
of these, one detachment came from the Birmingham, one 
from the Dolphin, one from the Mayflower, one from the 
receiving-ship Franklin at Norfolk, one from Washington 
Barracks, one from Fort Meyer, and one from the Marine 
Barracks. 

The parade was held on March 23, 1912. The forenoon 
was bright and beautiful, but I knew enough about 
weather never to trust it. So I telephoned to the 
Weather Bureau at eleven o 'clock, stating who I was, and 
asking to be put into communication with the principal 
forecaster. Then I asked the forecaster what would be 
the weather that afternoon, saying that I had to pa- 
rade 2100 men, and to decide at once whether to direct 
them to wear overcoats or not. The forecaster replied 



COMMANDING THE FIFTH DIVISION 503 

that the weather would be warm and bright, with a light 
southwest breeze. So I sent out orders not to wear over- 
coats. 

The detachments of the parade and the various func- 
tionaries, including President Taft, assembled at the 
western end of the War, Navy and State Building at one 
'clock. The weather had now become cold, and a light 
drizzle was beginning. At the same time the speakers 
began, and the clergyman who made prayers. The 
weather got colder and wetter, and the speeches and 
prayers became longer, as the people stood there. The 
speeches and prayers were over, however, by two o'clock, 
and then I started the parade for Arlington, leading it 
myself. By this time rain was descending heavily, and 
the weather was just warm enough to prevent the rain 
from freezing. The march to Arlington took an hour, 
and so did the impressive ceremonies there. I was so 
fortunate in making the arrangements that no hitch what- 
ever of any kind and no unforeseen incident occurred. 
The result was that the ceremonies there were completed 
in an hour. By this time everybody was very cold and 
very wet. 

A few days later I wrote to the commanding officers 
of the various detachments that had taken part in the 
parade, asking how many men had been sick on the day 
following their exposure, and also how many men had 
been seriously sick. 

After the answers had all come in, I found, to my sur- 
prise, that no men had been seriously sick on the follow- 
ing day, and that only two men had been at all sick. 
These results were so remarkable that I made special 
reports of them to both the Navy and War Departments. 

During the winter of 1910 and 1911, while I was urg- 
ing the establishment of an aeroplane service in the Phil- 
lipine Islands for use against transports and boats in an 
attempted invasion, I had pointed out that if the aero- 
planes were large enough, they could launch torpedoes 
against the transports and even against the battle-ships. 



504 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

This idea was not seriously considered by anybody, 
except myself; but as time went on, and I saw that 
aeroplanes were becoming larger, I realized that the 
scheme was obviously practicable. The idea occurred 
to me of patenting it; but I dismissed that idea for the 
reason that I felt sure that the scheme must have been 
I3roposed before and probably patented. I talked about 
it to a number of people, among others Park Benjamin, 
and one afternoon in Washington, in the spring of 1912, 
we discussed the idea of patenting this scheme, and also 
another scheme I had, which was an extension of my 
original wireless-control scheme. The idea underlying 
this was that the aeroplane might supply the missing- 
link needed to make the wireless-control scheme prac- 
ticable, because the one great obstacle in the way of wire- 
less control of torpedoes was that a man could not see 
them very far ; and it seemed to me that an observer on 
an aeroplane could accompany the torpedo or other craft, 
and send signals back to the electric transmitting station 
by wireless to steer the torpedo to the right or the left. 
A better plan, however, which occurred to me was to 
have a transmitting station on the aeroplane itself and 
steer the torpedo directly. 

I gave up both of these plans, however, in favor of 
the plan of dropping torpedoes directly from aeroplanes. 
It seemed to me that this plan would be better even if 
only one torpedo were to be used in any undertaking, 
but that it would be immeasurably better if a great num- 
ber were to be employed. In the latter case it seemed 
to me that the wireless plan was impracticable. 

Mr. Benjamin agreed with me, but I told him that it 
looked a little foolish to me to apply for a patent on the 
scheme of launching a torpedo from aeroplane, because 
I felt quite sure that somebody must have gotten ahead 
of me on so obvious a line of work, especially as I had 
been talking about it to everybody for more than a year. 
Mr. Benjamin said that he agreed with me in the main ; 
but that inventors were curious people, and it might be 



COMMANDING THE FIFTH DIVISION 505 

that nobody except me had thought about this particular 
plan. He added that ever since I had suggested the idea 
to him, about a year before, he had kept track of aero- 
nautical patents, and he was quite sure that nothing like 
my plan had been patented. I told Benjamin that I was 
keeping pretty fair track myself of the progress of aero- 
nautics, and that I had not seen any suggestion along the 
line of my scheme in any aeronautical paper, foreign or 
domestic. I remember saying to him, ''I have invented 
not only a new weapon, but a new method of warfare. ' ' 




Method of and Apparatus for Delivering Submarine Torpedoes 

from Airships. 

U. S. Patent No. 1,032,394, dated July 16, 1912. 



So I asked Benjamin to prepare the patent applica- 
tion. He did so, and made the first claims so broad as 
to cover even bomb-dropping, in order that the answer 
which he got from the Patent Office might show him every- 
thing there was in that line. The Patent Office of course 
rejected the claims as drawn. Benjamin made out new 
claims forthwith in the light of the information received. 

The Patent Office granted these claims at once, and 
gave me a strong and basic patent. My application for 



506 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

patent was dated April 12, 1912. The patent was issued 
on July 16, 1912. 

The basic character of the patent, and the fact that it 
covered not only an apparatus but a method are shown 
by the claims that were granted by the Patent Office. 

These read: 

" I claim 

"1. The method of directing and delivering the attack of a self-propelled 
submarine torpedo upon a floating target, which consists, first, in transport- 
ing said torpedo through the air to a point of desired proximity to said 
target; second, training said torpedo in the desired direction; third, starting 
the propelling mechanism of said torpedo, and fourth, releasing said torpedo 
to fall by gravity to tlie water. 

"2. The method of directing and delivering the attack of a self-propelled 
submarine torpedo upon a floating target, which consists, first, in trans- 
porting said torpedo through the air over a path of relatively high eleva- 
tion to the vicinity of said target; second, swooping downward to a point 
of relatively low elevation and training said torpedo in the desired direc- 
tion; third, starting the propelling mechanism of said torpedo, and fourth, 
releasing said torpedo to fall by gravity to the water. 

"3. In combination with an air-ship, a torpedo of the self-propelled sub- 
marine type having an externally-controllable device for starting the pro- 
pelling mechanism of said torpedo, means for retaining said torpedo below 
said ship, and, on said ship, means for operating said starting device, and 
means for releasing said retaining means. 

''4. In combination with an air-ship, a torpedo of the self-propelled sub- 
marine type having an externally-controllable device for starting the pro- 
jicllinu; iiicebanism of said torpedo, means for retaining said torpedo below 
said ship, and, on said ship, a manually controllable lever and transmitting 
nieciianism actuated by said lever, first, to operate said starting device, and 
second, to release said retaining means. 

"5. In combination with an air-ship, a torpedo of the self-propelled sub- 
marine type having an externally-controllable device for starting its pro- 
pelling mechanism, chocks for said torpedo below said ship, a strap for 
retaining said torpedo in said chocks, a latch for said strap, and, on said 
ship, a manually controllable lever for releasing said latch, and transmit- 
ting mechanism actuated by said lever, for operating said starting device." 

By this time I was quite sure that the Fifth Division 
would be disbanded, and so I bestirred myself to get 
command of another division in the fleet, as I knew that a 
vacancy would soon occur. The vacancy did occur, 
and about the first of April I received orders to com- 
mand the Third Division of the fleet, relieving Howard, 
who was to go on shore duty. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

COMMANDING THE THIRD AND THE FIRST DIVISION. 
END OF SEA CAREER 

SHORTLY after taking command of the third divi- 
sion, I assembled the third and fourth divisions at 
Provincetown, Massachusetts, by order of the com- 
mander-in-chief. By this time the fleet had been divided 
into two squadrons, of which the senior divisional com- 
mander had command of the first squadron, and the next 
senior divisional commander had command of the sec- 
ond squadron, the commander-in-chief being relieved of 
his previous duties as divisional commander and per- 
mitted to devote his entire attention to the fleet as a 
whole. The fleet was now temporarily separated into 
two parts, the first squadron being based on Narragan- 
sett Bay, and the second squadron on Provincetown. 

In the early part of May I anchored the second squad- 
ron, consisting of eight battleships, in Salem Harbor. In 
the late afternoon of May 10, the orderly at my cabin- 
door reported to me that an aeroplane was in sight, head- 
ing toward the squadron. I went up on the quarter-deck, 
and saw an aeroplane coming rapidly toward my flagship 
the Georgia. In a few minutes it landed on the water 
directly astern. I saw that it had two men in it, and I 
at once ordered that a boat be sent with an invitation to 
the aviators to come on board, and that the aeroplane 
be allowed to ride astern of the Georgia, like a boat. 
When the two aviators came on board, I asked them to 
come aft on the quarter-leck ; and I found that they 
were Mr. W. Starling Burgess and Mr. Phillips Ward 
Page. This was the first time that I had ever seen a 

507 



508 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

hydro-aeroplane, and I was delighted with the speed 
at which it had come and the evident practicability of 
handling it. 

I explained my admiration to Mr. Burgess with so 
much emphasis that he kindly invited me to go ashore 
and take dinner with him and Mrs. Burgess. I accepted 
at once, thinking that he would take me in his aeroplane. 
Mr. Page went down to the aeroplane, but that did not ex- 
cite my suspicions until I saw him sailing away with it. I 
expressed my disappointment to Mr. Burgess, and he an- 
swered that he had not supposed that I wanted to go in 
the aeroplane; in fact, that the possibility had not oc- 
curred to him. 

So I took him ashore in my barge, and I had a delight- 
ful dinner with a delightful family. During the dinner I 
made as many hints as I could about being taken up in an 
aeroplane, but without success for some time. Finally 
Mr. Burgess said, "Do you really mean, Admiral, that 
you would like to go up in an aeroplane?" I said that 
I should, and it was soon arranged that an aeroplane 
would be alongside the Georgia at eight o'clock the fol- 
lowing morning. 

I said nothing about this to anybody, fearing that some 
one might try to dissuade me ; but the next morning the 
Boston papers had an account of the incident, and a state- 
ment that I was going to fly that morning. 

The next morning I was ready and waiting a little be- 
fore eight, with my barge alongside the gangway. At 
the appointed time the aeroplane hove in sight, and I got 
into my barge and shoved off. The aeroplane settled 
in the water almost immediately afterward. I stepped on 
board of it, and in not more than two minutes after I had 
left the cabin I was skimming the surface of the water at 
tremendous speed. Half a minute later I had a sensa- 
tion that I never had before and shall never have again. 
No person who has not had the sensation can imagine 
what it is to feel himself doing a thing not only different 



FLIGHT IN AN AEROPLANE 509 

from anything he had ever done before, but directly con- 
trary to all the beliefs of what was possible that he had 
held during the major portion of his life. 

I cannot say that the feeling was pleasant, because it 
was so strange and so brief that I could not analyze it. 
The mere speed at which we went was bewildering, and 
as we rose higher and higher into the air, and the view 
over which I could see became greater and greater, I 
seemed to acquire a new and larger view of life; and I 
remember having a curious realization that things in this 
world must look very different to some men than to 
others, for the simple reason that they are higher above 
the earthly details and commoplaces of life, can see a 
greater number of things, and get a more accurate idea 
of the relations of one thing to the other. Most people 
can see only a few things close at hand, and these things 
shut out the view of other things that are often more im- 
portant. 

My reason for going up, however, was not to enjoy 
myself, but to make up my mind as to whether the con- 
ditions on board an aeroplane were such as would permit 
the offensive use of bombs that I had suggested for the 
defence of the Philippines, and also to see if my scheme of 
launching automobile torpedoes from aeroplanes seemed 
practical. I desired to ascertain from personal expe- 
rience whether in an aeroplane one was in an atmosphere 
of confusion and noise and oscillation, such that his 
mind would not operate, and he could not use instru- 
ments. 

To my delight, I found a condition of the greatest tran- 
quillity and evenness. The only confusing element was 
the tremendous noise of the engine ; but as that was uni- 
form, one soon became accustomed to it. The aero- 
plane was immeasurably more steady than a destroyer 
or even a ship, careening to the left or right only occasion- 
ally, and with a smooth, unjerky motion. At one time we 
flew over a column of boats that were bringing a large 



510 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

party of men off from shore, and I said to myself that 
with a few bombs I could prevent any boat ever getting 
to its ship. 

After leaving the water, we ascended to only about 
eight hundred feet ; but that height was so great in com- 
parison with any other height at which I had ever been, 
that we did not seem to be going very fast. The only 
time that I got a sensation of great speed was when we 
flew past the topmast of the Georgia, and within a few 
feet of it. 

Mr. Burgess had told me that it was not considered 
wise for a man to stay up more than five minutes on his 
first trip. So Mr. Page, who was in charge of the ma- 
chine that day, soon landed me alongside of the Georgia. 

My barge was in readiness, and in about two minutes 
more I was again in my cabin. Looking at the clock, I 
saw that I had been gone from the cabin exactly fifteen 
minutes. I could not realize this at first, because I had 
flown around and over the entire harbor and town of 
Salem ! 

I had gone up in uniform, so as to make my flight an 
official matter, even in the matter of my own feelings. I 
made a report of my flight to the Navy Department im- 
mediately, stated that I thought that the aeroplane could 
be made a very important naval weapon, and recom- 
mended it to the attention of the department. In com- 
menting on my flight not long afterward, one of my 
friends remarked that I was the ** flightiest admiral in 
the world." 

I was the first officer of a rank equal to mine to fly in 
an aeroplane officially and in uniform. I have heard 
since that Rear-Admiral Chester U. S. N. took an unoffi- 
cial flight some time before I did. 

I was surprised at the attention which was given to my 
flight by the public press in this country and abroad. 
Startling headlines, some red and some black, orna- 
mented the newspapers; and I was quoted as saying 
things that I never said and never thought of. Some of 



TELESCOPE SIGHT vs. TURRET 511 

my reputed sayings made me seem a little ridiculous, but 
I did not mind that, because I thought I had done a good 
thing, and because I knew the men of my command 
thought so, from the cheers which they had sent up as I 
flew by them on my return. 

In June, 1912, 1 published an article in the Naval Insti- 
stute, called ''The Relative Importance of Turret and 
Telescope Sight." 

The first four paragraphs were as follows : 

The value of the turret is recognized. The victory of the 
Monitor over the Merrimac was so opportune and dramatic, and 
its results were so evident, important and immediate, that the 
turret was at once proclaimed, by all the world, to be one of 
the greatest inventions of the age. 

The telescope sight, on the other hand, made its obscure little 
debut on a small gun-boat, way up in Bering Sea; its value was 
not realized for ten years; and it grew so slowly into use that 
it came gradually to be regarded as a "matter of course." 
Though adopted now by every civilized navy in the world, it has 
nevertheless received no individual recognition; and yet there 
are some who think that it is a more important factor in naval 
warfare than the turret. 

To compare the relative values of the turret and the telescope 
sight, let us imagine two ships, A and B, meeting on the ocean 
and fighting; A having open sights and turrets, and B having 
telescope sights and no turrets; B's guns being arranged in 
broadside. 

Which ship would win? 

The essay discussed the conditions of a fight between 
two such ships according to the principles of gunnery and 
tactics, and came to the conclusion that the battle-ship 
which had telescope sights and no turret would whip the 
ship which had turrets and no telescope sights, and 
quickly. 

The essay then discussed an attack by destroyers, and 
also by light cruisers, against the two supposititious bat- 
tle-ships, and came to the conclusion that the ship which 
had telescope sights and no turret would have more than 



512 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

eight times the chance of withstanding the attack that 
a ship with turrets and without telescope sights would 
have. It pointed out also that a battle-ship without tele- 
scope sights would have a very poor chance of escape 
from an attack by six destroyers even in the daytime, 
whereas a battle-ship with telescope sights would almost 
surely beat them off. 
The essay closed as follows : 

Therefore, it is possible that, were it not for the naval 
telescope sight, the hattleship, iyicluding the turret, might have 
become ohsolete before now. It is certain that the battleships 
would have much less than their present effectiveness to plead 
as a reason for their existence ; that they would fall an easier 
prey to the torpedo; and that we should have had, and should 
still have, very much more difficulty in getting money to build 
them. 

The turret has no field of usefulness in torpedo warfare, and 
is applicable to battleships only. The naval telescope sight has 
an important field in torpedo warfare, and is applicable to all 
kinds of vessels. Over the whole world today, there is hardly 
a modern gun on board a modern vessel that is not fitted with 
telescope sights 

In the war between Japan and Russia, the- destruction of the 
Russian fleet at Tsushima was so complete as to end the war. 
The main cause of its destruction was that the Russian gunnery 
was less accurate than the Japanese. The more accurate gun- 
nery of the Japanese secured an initial advantage in the begin- 
ning of the battle, which according to a natural law, increased 
in geometrical ratio as the battle went on, and became overwhelm- 
ing in a few minutes. 

It has been stated on excellent authority that the Japanese 
guns were fitted with telescope sights in good order, while very 
few of the Russian ships had telescope sights — and that the tele- 
scope sights which were fitted were- not in good order. 

If this be true (and it probably is), the reason for the sudden 
annihilation of the Russian fleet stands out sharp and clear; 
and we see that the naval telescope sight, more than any other 
one thing, was the cause of the turning of the tide of history 
in the direction in which it did turn. 



TELESCOPE SIGHT vs. TURRET 513 

I have been informed since that there is no doubt as to 
the existence of good telescope sights in the Japanese 
fleet and their non-existence in the Russian fleet. 

The thing which prompted me to write this article was 
a public movement then going on for putting up a statue 
to Ericsson. I felt thoroughly convinced myself that the 
telescope sight had been a greater contribution to navies 
than the turret had, and so I determined to say so as 
loudly as I could. I expected that my claims would be 
ridiculed, at least by some, and that I would be accused 
of gross exaggeration at the least. To my surprise, al- 
though my article was copied here and there, no comment 
whatever was made on it either favorable or adverse. At 
first I was considerably chagrined about this, and told of 
my chagrin to different people. They all told me that I 
had put my case so convincingly that there was nothing 
further to be said about it. 

About the first of June, the fleet was sent South, be- 
cause of very considerable trouble in the regions of Haiti 
and San Domingo. Most of the fleet anchored in Key 
West Harbor, a thing that pleased me greatly. Matters 
were smoothed out soon ; so that most of the ships of the 
fleet were able to go North in a few weeks. 

During my stays at Key West, both on this occasion 
and on the previous occasion, when I had been in the 
Washington, I was able to carry on some very interesting 
experiments with new forms of my horizometer, made by 
the Brashear Company, of Pittsburgh. None of the re- 
sults achieved, however, were good enough to warrant my 
submitting the instrument to the Bureau of Ordnance for 
official test. The great difficulty was that, though I con- 
tinually improved the instrument, the requirements of 
naval gunnery increased more rapidly than my improve- 
ments advanced. 

The fleet had become gradually dispersed, but finally 
the conunander-in-chief collected it in the neighborhood 
of Narragansett Bay. My division was the last to join, 



514 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

and as I approached the fleet, which was at anchor, my 
division was in "natural order"; that is, the flag-ship 
was leading. 

I discovered, however, on the following morning that, 
due to the way in which the ships had been swinging to 
the tide, the other divisions had been in inverted order. 
The result was that, when the fleet went out to tactical 
drill the following day, my division was inverted when- 
ever the other divisions were steaming in natural order, 
and vice versa. While making a manceuver, the com- 
mander-in-chief signaled to me by the general signal- 
book, "Your division is inverted." I had already be- 
come aware of this, but I saw no way of rectifying the 
matter while the fleet was going through tactical evolu- 
tions. When the commander-in-chief made me this sig- 
nal, my flag-lieutenant and I searched the signal-book 
with feverish haste to find a signal for putting the divi- 
sion into natural order. We could find no signal in the 
book. At the end of the manceuver the other divisions 
were inverted, and mine was in natural order. I went 
through an agony for about a minute ; then suddenly an 
inspiration came to me. We were going at sixteen knots 
in a strong wind and a considerable sea, and there was 
that atmosphere of tension which there always is at fleet 
tactical drills, while these enormous masses of delicate 
machines are rushing over the ocean, with the danger 
ever present of collision and disaster. 

My inspiration came to me perfectly clear, but in the 
urgent circumstances of the moment I had no time in 
w^hich to explain to anybody. I ordered the captain of 
the Georgia to turn immediately at right angles to the 
left, and I ordered Russell to make a P. D. L. (pass down 
the line) signal with the semaphore, for the other ships 
of my division to follow the Georgia. When that signal 
was put through and understood, I ordered Russell to 
make another P. D, L. signal for the New Jersey, which 
was the last ship of my division, not to change her course. 
I then told Russell to make another P. D. L. sisfnal for 



A NEW TACTICAL MANCEUVER 515 

the Virgi/nia to fall in astern of the Neiv Jersey. Before 
this time I had turned the Georgia again to the right, to 
her original course, followed by the Nebraska. When 
the Virginia had fallen astern of the New Jersey, I or- 
dered the Nebraska to fall in astern of the Virginia, and 
then I ordered the captain of the Georgia to fall in astern 
of the Nebraska. 

This evolution must have looked like confusion worse 
confounded to the commander-in-chief, for in the midst 
of it he signaled to me, ''What are you doing!" I could 
not answer this signal at the time ; but the commander-in- 
chief soon saw what I was doing, and realized that it was 
the only thing I could do, though it was something en- 
tirely new in fleet tactics. 

The manoeuver was an entire success. I drew up a re- 
port to the Navy Department describing it and recom- 
mending that it be adopted. I forwarded the report, of 
course, through the commander-in-chief. He approved 
it favorably, and the manoeuver was shortly afterward 
adopted. 

By this time I had made a number of basic inventions, 
and owned sixty United States patents, besides foreign 
patents. The invention which I made that day in the 
stress of excitement of fleet tactical drill I never patented, 
but this was not because I was ashamed of it. I do not 
know of any other invention having been made in such cir- 
cumstances. I must revise the last statement, however, 
by saying that, according to my conception of what an in- 
vention is, all the new movements and combinations which 
naval and military commanders have made in great emer- 
gencies have been inventions, and of the most brilliant 
and important kind. Caesar was an inventor, and by far 
the greatest military inventor who ever lived. Alexan- 
der was an inventor, and so in a lesser degree was Moltke. 

In October, 1912, I published in the Naval Institute 
an article called, ''The Mean Point of Impact," which 
was intended to prove the value of accurate range-find- 
ing. The article started with a short mathematical dis- 



516 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

cussion, which proved that, if the mean point of impact 
of a salvo fired from a ship was fifty yards over or short 
of a target, the probability of hitting the target would be 
twelve and a half times as great as it would be if the mean 
point of impact were 150 yards over or short. As a mean 
point of impact of a salvo is, roughly speaking, in the 
middle of where all the projectiles fall, and as this mid- 
dle is at the distance from the ship which equals the 
' ' sight bar range ' ' at which the guns are fired, this meant 
that, if the sight bar range were only fifty yards wrong in 
any case, the chances of hitting would be twelve and one- 
half times as great as if the sight bar range were 150 
yards wrong. 

I had always been more impressed with the necessity 
for accurate range-finding than anybody else in the navy, 
but I had never realized until I made the calculations for 
this article how great the value of accurate range-finding 
is, and how great a difference would be made by a dif- 
ference in the accuracy of range-finding between two 
ships fighting each other, especially if that range-finding 
were very accurate. I mean that I had never realized 
that (with range-finding, as with every other thing in 
which skill is required) the greater the skill, the greater a 
difference is made by any difference in skill. For in- 
stance: the difference of a few seconds in the time re- 
quired to run a mile does not make a great difference in 
the standing of any two common horses, but among the 
great racers the difference of one second makes almost a 
difference in class. 

I think my article had an effect in rousing officers and 
men to increased diligence in range-finding. This was 
the case not only in the navy, but in the army. In fact, 
General Weaver, chief of artillery of the army, issued an 
order that every officer in the Coast Artillery should 
study my article. I believe that the accuracy of German 
naval gunnery has been attained mainly by following 
methods like those that I have always urged. 

In the latter part of July the battle-ships of the fleet 



NIGHT EXERCISES 517 

held a night drill in which the second squadron, which 
was under my command, took up a position somewhere 
south of Block Island, and the first squadron endeavored 
to find it, using destroyers as scouts; while the second 
squadron, also using destroyers as scouts, endeavored to 
elude it, and to reach a position from which it could make 
an attack upon the coast. Fortunately for me, I was able 
to elude the first squadron, and when day broke on the 
following morning, to see that not a vessel of the 
''enemy" was in sight. 

Shortly after this, and according to a plan previously 
arranged, the senior division commander was detached 
and put on shore duty, and I was put in command of the 
first division and the first squadron, and made thereby 
the second in command of the fleet. Not long after this 
the commander-in-chief directed another night fleet drill, 
much like the previous one, but different in some details. 
In this case I was in command of the first squadron de- 
fending the fleet, and sent in pursuit of the second squad- 
ron, which was supposed to be an enemy fleet, and which 
tried to elude me. I shall never forget that night, or at 
least one part of it somewhat after midnight, when I was 
leading my squadron at a speed of fourteen knots around 
Block Island, with all lights out ; especially the time when 
information, just received by wireless from a scout, im- 
pelled me to make an abrupt change of course in order 
to catch the second squadron, under conditions such that, 
if I made a mistake in my hurried calculations, I had a 
good chance of running my flag-ship ashore, and having 
the Utah crash into her from behind. I suffered an 
agony for about a minute; but fortunately I made no 
mistake, and fortunately I caught the *' enemy" about 
an hour afterward. 

The entire fleet, with the exception of the flag-ship of 
the commander-in-chief, was now temporarily under my 
command. I anchored it east of Block Island, and re- 
mained there for a few hours, because of a misunder- 
standing by one of the division commanders. 



518 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

I got the fleet under way at daylight, and took a great 
deal of pleasure in conducting it from there to an anchor- 
age near Fort Pond Bay, at the eastern end of Long Is- 
land, where the commander-in-chief was anchored. This 
was the only time except once that I ever manceuvered so 
large a number of vessels of different kinds ; I think there 
were twelve battle-ships and about sixteen destroyers. I 
remember realizing how much there was to be learned, 
and in saying to myself that the ''club" which I then 
held in my hands, enormous as it was, was, after all, 
merely a development of the club with which Cain had 
killed Abel; and that it was so much of a development that 
it was more powerful than any army in the world; more 
powerful, in fact, than all the armies of the world put 
together. 

Not long afterward the commander-in-chief held an- 
other fleet drill in which I was given command of the 
greater part of the fleet, and given the task of starting 
with the fleet from Newport, and beating off an enemy 
force that was supposed to have suddenly appeared out- 
side. According to the rules of the game, I won it. 

Not long after that the commander-in-chief held an- 
other drill, in which half the fleet was supposed to en- 
deavor to approach a part of the coast in the daytime, 
while the other half of the fleet, of which I was in com- 
mand, was to give it battle and beat it off. I was so 
fortunate as to be able to T the column of the enemy, and 
to get him under such a gun-fire from my ships, and such 
a torpedo-fire from my destroyers, which approached him 
behind a smoke-screen, that I was able to defeat him. 

This ended our tactical games that summer. I had 
taken part as commander of one of the competing sides in 
four games, and m every game 1 had been so fortunate as 
to be the wiimer. 

During the preceding ten years I had made a study of 
optics, and had invented and constructed several optical 
instruments which I will not mention here, because they 
were never quite successful, and were never submitted by 



PRISM SYSTEM OF TARGET PRACTICE 519 

me for practical test. I had had an uneasy feeling that 
by some very simple optical device we might be able to 
make our target-practice much less onerous and much 
more useful. By this time our target practice at sea had 
become a very difficult matter indeed, not from the point 
of view of gunnery, but from that of seamanship, because 
of the tremendous difficulties involved in towing the 
target screen which we fired at, which was about ninety 
feet long and thirty feet high. To tow a screen in a 
smooth sea and a light breeze was not difficult ; but it was 
so difficult to do it in a heavy sea and a strong breeze 
that tow-ropes were constantly breaking, and targets 
were constantly drifting ashore. Besides, the number of 
screens required, the size of the floats needed to carry 
the screens, the number of tugs needed, and all the rest 
of the paraphernalia involved, forced the fleet to have 
target practice near a base, and Hampton Roads was the 
only practical one. 

In the early part of April, before I took command of 
the third division, I went down to witness fleet target- 
practice unofficially, and took up my quarters with my 
friend, Captain Spencer Wood, then commanding the 
Nebraska. The fleet was having a horrid time with the 
target-rafts. In watching the manceuvers of tugs with a 
mutinous target-raft one day, it suddenly occurred to me 
that, if one would put a small prism of glass in front of a 
telescope sight, the rays of light would be refracted, say, 
five degrees to the right or left; so that one would seem 
to point at a target, and yet the gun would be pointed five 
degrees to the left or the right of it. This would enable 
a man to use another ship as a target, and yet fire five 
degrees to the right of it. Furthermore, an observer, by 
holding a similar prism in his hand, but in the reverse di- 
rection, could see the splash in the water made by the pro- 
jectile refracted back; so that the splash would appear in 
the same relation to the target that it would actually 
have if the gun had been fired directly at the target. 

I talked over this matter with some officers, and they 



520 FBOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

all declared that my idea would bring about a wonderful 
revolution in target-practice if I could only make it work 
practically. I had no opportunity of doing anything 
with it for some time ; but when I was in the Georgia, at 
Key West, I bought some prisms. I secured one prism 
in front of the telescope sight of a six-pounder gun, sent 
a boat out a few hundred yards distant, and myself fired 
five shots directly at the boat, apparently. I reported 
this to the Navy Department, and when I was in com- 
mand of the first division at Newport, I received per- 
mission from the Bureau of Ordnance to try the experi- 
ment on a larger scale. 

So I got some strongly made prisms, and secured them 
in a position in front of the telescope sight of a five-inch 
gun, which fired a shell weighing over sixty pounds. 
Then I sent the North Dakota to a position about fifteen 
hundred yards distant, and told Lieutenant-Commander 
Madison, the gunnery-officer, to fire forty-five shots di- 
rectly at her. This he did, and with perfect success. 
Then I got permission from the bureau to fire twenty 
twelve-inch shots. After making proper arrangements, I 
fired these twenty twelve-inch shells, each weighing over 
eight hundred pounds, directly at the Delaware, ap- 
parently. 

It will be seen that by this plan real ships could be used 
as targets instead of canvas screens, and that it would 
not be necessary to go to any specially selected place for 
target-practice, because target-practice could be held at 
sea anywhere and at any time. 

I have not mentioned one very great difficulty with 
carrying out this plan, however, which I had realized 
from the very first, but which seemed to be merely a diffi- 
culty that could be overcome. I refer to the fact that, 
unless the prism is held exactly horizontally, the ray of 
light will not be refracted exactly horizontally, but be 
tilted up or down. I thought that the best way to secure 
horizontality was to connect each prism with a gyroscope. 
As Mr. Elmer E. Sperry had recently made some won- 



REVIEW IN NEW YOEK 521 

derful and brilliant inventions in gyroscopes, I explained 
my plans to him one day in my cabin. He said he was 
quite sure that he could make the gyroscope do what I 
wanted, and that he was at my service, and the navy's, for 
doing it. 

In July, 1912, the Naval Institute issued the nomina- 
tions for the election of officers and members of the board 
of control for the ensuing year. By the rules of the insti- 
tute, there were to be three nominations for each posi- 
tion. The rule was carried out in this instance for all of 
the offices except for that of President ; but for that office 
only one person was nominated, myself. The election 
took place in October, and I was elected. 

A grand review of the fleet was held in New York in 
October. It was a splendid spectacle, and we were de- 
lightfully entertained. One day my chaperon was that 
extremely delightful gentleman, President John Finley. 
As the presidential election was to take place in the fol- 
lowing month, I was naturally much interested in what 
Mr. Finley told me in regard to the Democratic candi- 
date, Mr. Wilson. Mr. Finley described him as a man of 
enormous ability, and one capable, he felt sure from a 
long acquaintance with him, of handling the complicated 
affairs of the United States both internally and in rela- 
tion to foreign powers with perfect skill and foresight. 

About this time The New York Times asked for an 
interview with me in which I should give the Times my 
views as to the state of the navy at the time, the way 'in 
which it had progressed, and the way in which it ought to 
progress. I agreed to this gladly, and had a delightful 
talk with Mr. Edward Marshall one Friday evening. 
Mr. Marshall took no notes whatever ; but on the follow- 
ing Sunday, October 13, 1912, the Times published a 
full-page interview which was extraordinarily accurate, 
and illustrated by a picture of me that looked like a pic- 
ture of Methuselah with epaulets. 

In the course of the interview I extolled what the navy 
had done and was still doing, except in one matter, that of 



522 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

aeronautics. I was beginning to become much concerned 
about our backwardness in this matter. One of Mr. Mar- 
shall's questions was: 

"What has the navy done with the airplane I" 

My answer was : 

''Much. It is now realized by the whole world that the 
airplane will in the future be a very important element 
in warfare. But notwithstanding that we have done 
something with it, it is nevertheless unfortunately true 
that the United States Navy has shown less interest in the 
modern developments of aviation than could be desired. 
As a whole, we do not seem to have quite apprehended yet 
the vast scope of the changes which the aeroplane will 
make in warfare. ' ' 

The officers and men of the fleet were delightfully en- 
tertained in New York, and given receptions, entertain- 
ments, and dinners. At these dinners many of the best 
speakers of New York descanted eloquently on the ex- 
cellence of our navy and on the necessity for keeping it 
abreast the progress of the country in size and power. 

Shortly after the ceremonies in New York, the fleet, or 
the principal part of it, was sent to Charleston, South 
Carolma, largely to stimulate the interest of the people in 
the navy, but mainly to demonstrate the fact that, under 
good conditions of weather, our super-dreadnoughts 
could cross the bar at Charleston at high tide. 

We had a delightful time in Charleston, possibly more 
delightful, even, than in New York. This was due to the 
shorter distances that we had to traverse, to the smaller 
number of faces to remember, and to that peculiar quality 
of geniality which is so charming an attribute of the peo- 
ple of our South. The ceremonies and entertainments 
were much like those given us in New York. They were 
not on so large a scale or so expensive, but the speeches 
were very much more pleasant to listen to. The art of 
oratory, while not at all extinct in the North, especially 
in the pulpit, has lost much of that grace and polish 
which used to adorn it even in the North; because, un- 



FUNERAL OF WHITELAW REID 523 

doubtedly, of the greater importance which practicality 
has assumed in cities, where many million people must 
live together. But in the South, where the conditions of 
living are easier, and where men have more time to de- 
vote to the sentimental side of life, the art of oratory is 
still practised in all its former beauty. 

On the way North we stopped at Hampton Roads. We 
knew that the service of Admiral Osterhaus, as com- 
mander-in-chief of the fleet, was drawing to a close, and 
there was much speculation as to who would succeed him. 
As I was second in command, I had hopes that I should 
do so ; but I made no application for the position, because 
I knew that Rear- Admiral Badger desired it, and Badger 
was not only my senior in rank, but an officer admirably 
fitted for the post. The afternoon after arriving at 
Hampton Roads I read in the Army and Navy Journal, 
that Badger had been selected. As I was only a few 
numbers behind Badger on the nav^^ list, it occurred to 
me that I would probably not be kept in the fleet, and that 
I might take Badger's place as aid for inspections. 

In a few days I received orders to do so. 

From Hampton Roads we went to New York. At that 
time the body of Ambassador Whitelaw Reid was being 
sent across in the British cruiser Galatea. I received or- 
ders to proceed to sea with my flag-ship, another dread- 
nought, and four destroyers, to meet the funeral-ship in 
the neighborhood of Nantucket, escort it to an anchorage 
near West 96th Street, New York, take charge of the fun- 
eral proceedings until the body reached the shore, attend 
the ceremonies at the cathedral, and supply a suitable 
escort. 

W^e met the funeral-ship at the appointed locality, and 
escorted her to New York. We found the entrance to 
Sandy Hook on the following morning but almost imme- 
diately afterward a dense fog set in. This cleared away 
shortly, and we advanced rapidly up the lower bay ; but 
suddenly, just north of the Narrows, we were caught in 
a rapidly descending fog, and so were a great many 



524 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

mercliant steamers which had been attempting to seize 
the clear weather and to go out or come in. My two 
dreadnoughts and four destroyers and the British ship 
seemed suddenly to have been caught in a mob of vessels 
of all sorts, each one of which kept sending up the most 
dismal warning signals with her steam-whistle. For a 
few minutes the situation looked extremely critical; but 
the fog cleared away as suddenly as it had come, and I 
steamed my heterogeneous collection of vessels as rapidly 
as possible to the designated anchorage. 

I had to get the body ashore next day. It was in a 
very heavy leaden box, which was secured on the upper 
deck of the Galatea. To my great distress, the weather 
became exceedingly windy; which made the water so 
rough that the task of handling the heavy casket would 
be extremely difficult. 

In the early part of the afternoon it was lowered in 
safety into one of our sailing launches alongside of the 
Galatea and then the funeral procession started to the 
shore. I was not much concerned as to what would hap- 
pen until the attempt should be made to remove the 
casket from the sailing launch, and put it on the float at 
the river landing. But I was very much concerned as to 
what would happen then, for I knew that both the boat 
and the float would be jumping up and down violently 
and irregularly, and that the operation of transferring 
the casket would be exceedingly difficult. I impressed 
the officer in charge of the operation with the seriousness 
of the matter, and told him that if that casket was 
dropped into the river, the fact would be known in Aus- 
tralia in half an hour. I remember the extreme anxiety 
with which I watched the operation through a long glass 
mounted on my telescope-mount, and my great relief 
when a signal announced that it had been completed. 

The following forenoon magnificent funeral services 
were held in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The 
church was crowded both in the nave and the chancel. 
Ex-President Roosevelt sat on the right side of the 



END OF SEA CAREER 525 

chancel, and I remember with what military alacrity he 
sprang to his feet when President Taft came into the 
chancel with a large staff, and took a seat on the opposite 
side. I sat with my staff in the front pew, on the left 
side of the middle aisle. 

This was my last official act as a sea-officer. My wife 
and a few friends took lunch with me on board the Florida 
at one o'clock. Shortly afterward, my beautiful two- 
starred flag, the acme of all I had worked for since I was 
six years old, was hauled down disconsolately from the 
masthead. Captain Maxwell gave it to me to keep, and 
with it under my arm I took passage ashore in what only 
an hour before, had been my barge. 

Life has great changes for all of us. But few changes 
are as great as when an admiral leaves his flag-ship be- 
hind him forever, and leaves behind him, also forever, the 
life of the sea, and the charm of the sea, and the fluttering 
flags, and the uniform and the glamour and the danger 
and the splendor, and that wonderful thing — command. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

AID FOR OPEEATIONS, AERONAUTICS AND OUTBREAK 
OF WAR 

I ASSUMED the duties of aid for inspections on Janu- 
ary 6, 1913 ; but in the afternoon of February 8, Sec- 
retary Meyer told me that Admiral Vreeland's health 
was breaking down and that he wished me to take his 
place as aid for operations. 

Of course I was gratified by being detailed to the most 
important position in the navy, but I cannot say that I 
was pleased. This was because I did not feel that I was 
competent to undertake the duties. My experience for 
almost a year in charge of the war-plan section of the 
General Board had let me see how much there was to be 
done in the matter of getting up adequate war plans, 
and had also made me feel that I did not have the kind 
of knowledge and ability required for that work. My 
training had not fitted me for it except incompletely, and 
my year and three months of experience in command of a 
division in the active fleet had served more to show me 
what needed to be done than to indicate to me the steps 
which should be taken to do it. 

At this time the navy was getting along smoothly; 
the super-dreadnoughts were a success, our skill in gun- 
nery was increasing, the war college was firmly estab- 
lished, and the fleet itself was in excellent condition. As 
to the Navy Department, the aid system was working 
well, and had the confidence of the service, and Secretary 
Meyer had proved himself to have, in the opinion of the 
upper officers of the navy, the best conception of what 
a navy ought to be of any secretary in many years. 

But the upper officers of the navy realized that while 

526 



NAVY NOT ORGANIZED FOR WAR 527 

the navy was in good condition for times of peace, it 
was not organized for war, for the reason that no meas- 
ures had been taken by which it could be expanded 
quickly, and yet maintain the efficiency of the individual 
ships and of the fleet. We had enough trained men, 
or almost enough, to man the fleet in peace-time, but 
we had no reserve to fall back upon to man it suffi- 
ciently for war, to man the ships in reserve which would 
be added to the fleet, to man ships and other vessels that 
would be bought, and to supply the extra men needed in 
the shore stations. In the European and Japanese nav- 
ies, on the contrary, large forces of reserves were kept 
in a state of continuous readiness, so that they would 
be almost instantly available in case of war. We knew 
that, in case of war, we should be called upon suddenly 
to recruit a great many wholly untrained men, and to 
bring back into the navy a few partly trained men. We 
knew that the only way in which to utilize those men 
would be to distribute them among all the ship and shore 
stations; but we realized that this would entail an enor- 
mous falling off in efficiency of even the ships in the active 
fleet, because those ships would have to send to other 
ships and to shore stations many men who had been 
trained to skill in certain duties, and to replace those 
trained men with untrained men. As foreign navies, 
especially the British, German, and Japanese, had fore- 
seen this trouble and provided against it, we knew that if 
we got into war with any of those navies, our navy would 
start under a tremendous handicap. 

We knew also that our Navy Department had not kept 
pace with the times in the matter of its method of ad- 
ministration. The principal foreign navies had realized 
that the need for utilizing modern means of transpor- 
tation and communication, necessitated an organization 
of the department itself whereby the navy as a whole 
could be handled as a war machine. Our Navy Depart- 
ment was working under virtually the same organization 
as that under which it had worked during the Civil War 



528 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

except that Mr. Meyer had recently established four aids 
to help him handle its vast and intricate mechanism. 

I found Mr. Meyer an excellent man to work with. 
He was cold in his manner, and had at first a rather 
depressing effect on a person, the effect making him feel 
inferior. But I soon found that he was really a modest 
man, and not ''stuck up," as he seemed at first to be. 
It seemed to me that his principal defect as secretary 
of the navy was his lack of knowledge of the physical sci- 
ences and of engineering. Of course, as secretary of 
the navy, he did not have to be a physicist or an engineer ; 
but it would have helped him vastly if he had had suffi- 
cient knowledge of the principles of the physical sciences 
and of engineering to be able to understand clearly the 
recommendations and discussions of the ordnance officers, 
engineers, and constructors, and to talk to them in their 
own language. 

The upper officers of our navy at this time realized 
that there were only two navies that we had cause to 
fear, the German and the Japanese. We knew, of course, 
that the British Navy was much stronger than ours ; but 
we saw no reason for coming into collision with it. We 
knew also that the French Navy was about the equal 
of ours in some ways, and that it had been much greater 
than ours a few years previous; but we knew also that 
Camille Pelletan, while minister of marine, had injured 
it so greatly that it had not yet recovered, and we argued 
that if it were possible for a minister of marine to be 
permitted to do so much harm to a navy, there must be 
something wrong somewhere else. Therefore we did 
not fear the French Navy. 

As to the Japanese Navy, we knew that it was inferior 
to ours in the matter of ships and guns; but we knew 
also that the Japanese had an excellent system of trained 
reserves, which we did not have, and that, in case we 
should get into war with Japan, Japan could take the 
Philippines, and that any fleet which we should send 
out to Asia in consequence would have to operate out 



JAPANESE AND GERMAN NAVIES 529 

there at such tremendous disadvantages in the matter 
of supplies, repair stations, etc., that whatever advan- 
tage we might have in our greater number of ships would 
be largely overcome. We knew also that the Japanese 
were far better strategists than we and that they showed 
it in many ways; for instance, in the organization and 
administration of the Navy Department. We knew that 
the Japanese Navy was controlled strategically by a gen- 
eral staff the members of whona had been carefully 
selected years before and carefully trained since then. 
But it was the German Navy that occupied our atten- 
tion the most. We did not know as much about the Ger- 
man Navy as we should have liked to know; but we 
did know that the German Navy was modelled on the 
German Army, and that the German Army was the most 
efficient organization of the world. W^e knew that the 
German Emperor was a military man first and a naval 
man second, and that he was directing all the resources 
of Germany, material, intellectual, and spiritual, to the 
perfection of the German army and navy. We knew that 
it was a German physicist, Helmholtz, who had analyzed 
and synthesized sound, and that the Germans were very 
expert at both analysis and synthesis. We also knew 
that they had directed their powers to analyzing military 
and naval problems and situations, and to synthesizing 
military and naval methods to deal with them. We knew 
that the German Army and Navy had not been built 
haphazard, and that they were not operated by hap- 
hazard methods; but that they had been built up, and 
were being operated by mathematical methods. We 
knew that the German Navy Department was divided into 
three parts, the general staff, the ministry of marine, and 
the naval cabinet, which executed respectively the func- 
tions of strategy, logistics, and tactics; that is, of plan- 
ning to do, providing the means with which to do, and 
doing. We knew that these three divisions were coequal 
in rank, that each was headed by a man highly trained 
for his task, that all were under the immediate direction 



530 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

of the emperor, and that he was highly trained for his 
task. 

We did not like the German idea of war or the German 
beUef that might makes right and as loyal Americans we 
abhorred the utter subjection of the individual man to 
the state. But we realized that the German naval ma- 
chine was immeasurably better than ours, and we real- 
ized that Prussia's attacks on Denmark in 1864, on Aus- 
tria in 1866, and on France in 1870 showed the direction 
of the national purpose ; and that Germany would again 
precipitate a war as soon as she again felt sure that she 
could win. Therefore we deplored the dangerous ineffi- 
ciency of our Navy Department. 

We did not have even a general staff, and the only 
man in the United States Navy who could remotely pre- 
tend to occupy the position of a naval strategist was my- 
self ! I occupied that position simply because I occupied 
the position of military adviser to the secretary. I knew 
I was not fitted by training or experience for such a posi- 
tion, but I had had as much training and experience as 
anybody else in the navy. 

The fact was that, fit or unfit, I was the official strate- 
gist of the navy. Fit or unfit, the duty devolved upon me 
to do the best I could. 

Mr. Meyer left office on the fifth of March, twenty-two 
days after he had made me aid for operations. When 
he left Washington, the four aids went to the railroad 
station, and said good-by to him with that feeling of 
regret and respect with which one says good-by to a 
thoroughly honorable man. 

Mr. Josephus Daniels became Secretary of the Navy 
on March 5, 1913, and the aids were presented to him by 
Mr. Meyer. We found Mr. Daniels to be an extremely 
attractive man, with a geniality of manner and an evi- 
dent companionableness that were in marked contrast 
to the cold manner and New England reserve of Mr. 
Meyer. We had the pleasure soon of meeting Mrs. 
Daniels and their four splendid and handsome boys, and 



V 



THE CASE OF CAPTAIN POTTS 531 

of feeling that inexpressible pleasure that one always 
feels in meeting an evidently happy family. My subse- 
quent acquaintanceship with Mr. Daniels confirmed me 
in the estimate that I made of him personally on the 
first day of our acquaintance, and which I have taken 
all proper occasions to express. In my diary I see fre- 
quent mentions of him as a man of refinement, sympa- 
thy, and good nature, whose serenity was rarely ruffled 
and whose politeness was unfailing. 

Shortly after Mr. Daniels assumed office, the promotion 
of Captain Templin M. Potts, the aid for personnel, 
became due. Potts had been captain of the battle-ship 
Georgia, and when Rear-Admiral Wainwright had been 
made aid for operations, Mr. Meyer had detached him 
from the command of the Georgia and made him 
chief intelligence officer on the request of Wainwright. 
Later he relieved Admiral Potter as aid for personnel. 
According to law, Potts was examined by a board of 
three rear-admirals on the active list. He was passed. 
All the officers expected this, because Potts was not only 
a man of ability, but of the kind of ability and experience 
that would make him a good rear-admiral. To our sur- 
prise, the Secretary refused to accept the report of the 
admirals on the ground that Potts had not had enough 
sea service, and he ordered Potts to sea in the command 
of the Louisiana! I expostulated, but without avail. 
The following Sunday I visited the Secretary's house 
and expressed myself with much emphasis in regard 
to what I declared was an act of injustice of the na- 
ture of executing an ex-post facto law. I pointed out 
to the Secretary that Potts had discharged all his du- 
ties to the entire satisfaction of his superiors, and 
that it would be fatal to discipline if officers could not 
find in the satisfactory discharge of their duties the best 
assurance of promotion. I expressed myself with so 
much emphasis that I expected the Secretary would re- 
move me at once from the position of aid for operations. 
In fact, on my way to his house, I had told Admiral 



532 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

Schroeder and Admiral Osterhaus that I thought my 
term of office would expire that afternoon. But, to my 
surprise, the Secretary accepted my expostulations with 
perfect composure and good humor. When I left, I shook 
hands with him ; and I departed with the conviction that 
he was personally sincere. 

During the following three months I came to have a 
great liking for the Secretary ; but I thought that I saw 
in him an incorrect judgment as to the best way in which 
to make the navy effective for the purpose for which it 
was maintained by the United States. It seemed to me 
that he did not see the navy as a whole, but only certain 
parts of it; with the natural result that the parts upon 
which he fixed his attention seemed to him larger than 
they really were. I did not seem to be able to make him 
see the navy as a whole ; but I thought that if I could get 
him to go to the war college, and show him the great num- 
bers of books on the art of war and explain the strategic 
games to him, I might make him see that the navy was 
really a vast and highly specialized machine, and not an 
aggregation of separate parts. He went up to the war 
college with me and became interested in it at once. This 
interest he maintained during the two years that I was 
aid for operations, though I could not make up my mind 
that he really understood the purpose of the college. It 
seemed to me that he regarded it as a place where one 
went to learn things that were already known, as one 
does at the usual institutes of learning that we call 
colleges. 

The following August, 1913, I secured the Secretary's 
permission to spend the month at the war college in- 
stead of taking the usual leave. I did this because it 
seemed to me that the war college was not quite close 
enough to the practical navy, and I wanted to try to 
see what was the trouble. My conclusion was that the 
war college personnel was too largely self-replacing, and 
so I suggested to Admiral Knight, who had a mind which 
was fine, but which had been exercised mostly in the pre- 



PRESIDENCY OF WAR COLLEGE 533 

cise arts of seamanship, gunnery, and navigation, that he 
should become president. Knight demurred, but finally 
agreed. I then secured the approval of the General 
Board, including Admiral Dewey, and of the other aids. 
But when I proposed Knight's name to the Secretary, 
he said he thought that the man for that position was 
Admiral Fiske! 

This surprised me at first, but I quickly realized, what 
I had come strongly to suspect, that the Secretary wanted 
to get rid of me. Some of my friends had told me at 
different times that I would not stay as aid for opera- 
tions long, because I was not sufficiently pliable. 

The position of president of the war college was 
pleasanter than that of aid for operations, for he 
had a house, garden, servants, carriage, barge, and 
all the other delightful things that go with a high 
naval or military command. My friends told me, how- 
ever, that I must hang on if I could. I did so for 
about two weeks, but finally I told the Secretary that I 
would not set a bad example to the service, and that I 
would go to the war college, and willingly, if he insisted 
on it. But the next day Admiral Dewey came back to 
Washington, and when I told him about the proposed 
change, he said it must not be. He said that I was exactly 
the man for aid for operations, and that if I gave it up, 
somebody might be put in who cared only for his own 
ease and comfort, regardless of the efficiency of the navy. 
Dewey went to the Secretary twice and finally prevailed 
upon him to retain me as aid for operations. Then 
Knight became president of the war college. He made an 
admirable president, a much better president than I 
would have made. 

During the month of August my wife and I spent one 
evening at the casino. A dance was going on in which 
some couples were exercising themselves with the 
"turkey trot," which at that time was a most ungainly 
performance. I got into conversation with Rear-Ad- 
miral Davis, retired, a man ten years older than I, and 



534 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

very highly educated. I made some laughing comment 
about the dance, to which he answered very gravely, ''I 
see nothing to laugh at." He spoke so gravely that I 
realized that he was not speaking merely of the dance 
that we were witnessing, and so I asked him why he 
spoke as he did. He said: 

''You know that this is not new, and is all over Eu- 
rope." 

I said I knew it was all over Europe, but that I 
thought it was something new. He answered in effect 
as follows (and what he said was the most remarkable 
thing that has ever been said to me) : 

"This especial step may be new, but dancing crazes 
are old, and this is part of a dancing craze. I am quite 
sure that it portends evil. Whenever a savage tribe 
hears that the men of another tribe are dancing, it gets 
ready for war. There have been several dancing crazes 
recorded in history. One dancing craze preceded the 
Crusades, another dancing craze preceded the Reign of 
Terror. Every dancing craze has been followed in about 
a year by an awful war." 

In about a year the war broke out in Europe ! 

This suggests the degree of preventability of wars by 
mortals. 

On October 11 I was again reelected president of the 
Naval Institute. 

Shortly after the new administration came in, some 
of the cabinet officers and members of their families went 
down in the Mayflower to see the target-practice of the 
fleet. I went also, and had the pleasure of meeting them. 
During the subsequent two years I had the honor of 
meeting all the cabinet officers and their wives on various 
occasions, and I have never met more delightful people. 
But my experience was the reverse of what I exj)ected in 
regard to the cabinet officers themselves. I had always 
looked up to a cabinet officer with great awe, realizing 
that each one was in such a responsible position that 
any failure on his part to discharge his duties wisely 



CABINET OFFICERS 535 

would injure the fortunes and happiness of many million 
people. As I was a great admirer of our form of gov- 
ernment, and of the elaborate mechanism employed for 
selecting the best men from a population of a hundred 
million people, my idea of a cabinet officer was a Hercules 
of intellect, a man capable of mentally grasping a diffi- 
cult problem in the way a trained wrestler physically 
grasps an antagonist. I thought of cabinet officers as 
men dwelling apart in a splendid intellectual isolation, 
looking down on ordinary men like me, and the kind of 
people with whom I had spent my life. But I found a 
number of very genial and unassuming men, kindly and 
companionable, but without any trace of grandeur that 
I could discover in their intellects. In fact, it seemed 
to me that none of them was in the intellectual class with 
Luce, Mahan, or Harry Taylor; that none of them was 
a man of brilliancy and originality like Park Benjamin, 
Frank J. Sprague, or A. A. Michelson ; and that none of 
them indicated the administrative capacity of Mr. Thayer, 
president of the Western Electric Company, or of sev- 
eral other men whom I knew in New York. 

I had the good fortune to talk with Mr. Bryan a num- 
ber of times on important matters when he was Secretary 
of State, and to hear him speak on several occasions. He 
was by far the most impressive man I have ever met. I 
have never seen a man who conveyed to me such an im- 
pression of majesty. That magnificent head ; those hand- 
some eyes ; that mobile mouth ; that attitude at once com- 
posed and alert; that facial expression, benignant, self- 
reliant, kindly and yet strong, and that wonderful voice — 
all combined to produce a fascination at first which mas- 
tered me. But I was soon amazed at the superficialness 
of the knowledge that he possessed, and the shallowness 
of the ideas that he advanced. I think it was Sydney 
Smith who said of Webster, **No man can be as wise as 
he looks." I do not know about that ; but I do know that 
William J. Bryan was not as wise as he looked. 

During the first year of my duties as aid for operations 



536 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAK-ADMIRAL 

the Japanese situation and the Mexican situation occu- 
pied my attention continually. Of the two, the Japanese 
situation was the more important, the Mexican situation 
the more exasperating. My diary contains many notes 
concerning these matters, some of which are highly in- 
teresting, but which it would be improper to publish now. 
I was much surprised at some things that happened, and 
I amuse myself occasionally now by reading from my 
diary the impressions which they made upon my feeble in- 
tellect. Those happenings made my intellect feel ex- 
tremely feeble, because they confused it so. My great 
source of comfort when I was unusually confused was 
John Bassett Moore, then counselor of the State De- 
partment, who occupied a position in the State Depart- 
ment analogous to mine in the Navy Department. I 
think I was a source of comfort to him also, because some- 
times he would say to me, "Now, Admiral is n't it awful? 
now, if you think about it, isn't it really awful I" I 
would tell him that I thought it was awful, and my as- 
surance that it was awful seemed to comfort him. He 
was the greatest authority in the United States, and 
almost in the world, on international law. 

Not very long after the new administration came in, the 
secretary of the navy started his project for educating 
the enlisted men. All naval officers were sympathetic 
with this idea, because we knew that the better educated 
a man is, other things being equal, the more efficient he 
is. Of course this knowledge has been held in armies 
and navies for more than two thousand years, and the sub- 
ject is one which has continuously engaged the attention 
of military and naval commanders. It has always been 
recognized as one of the most important matters con- 
nected with armies and navies, and is one on which many 
books have been written. But while military and naval 
commanders have realized the necessity for increasing 
the knowledge of the men under their command, they have 
always realized that it was merely a means to an end 



EDUCATING ENLISTED MEN 537 

and not the end itself, and they have realized that it is 
possible to exaggerate the importance of the question, 
great as that importance is. In our navy we had at 
one time gone to greater lengths, I think, than in any 
other army or navy. This was when the training sys- 
tem of Admiral Luce was in full flower. The necessity 
for meeting the actual demands of practical naval life 
had resulted in cutting down a great deal of Luce's sys- 
tem; but this was not accomplished until after a tre- 
mendous amount of discussion pro and con by the officers 
of our navy. 

The subject of the education of the enlisted men was 
therefore a subject on which we were very much up to 
date. In all the navy the man who had gone into this 
subject the most profoundly, except Admiral Luce, was 
Captain William F. Fullam, then aid for personnel. 
Fullam and I, in particular, and the other two aids be- 
sides, gave our hearty support to the Secretary's ideas, 
therefore; but it soon seemed to us that he was going 
further than even Admiral Luce. The Secretary, how- 
ever, had the courage of his convictions, and instituted 
a system of education of the enlisted men. I am in- 
formed that the system initiated has been gradually com- 
ing into disuse, and that now the matter of the educa- 
tion of enlisted men is virtually in the same state that 
it was in before. 

One of the projects which I tried very hard to induce 
the Secretary to support was that of a Council of 
National Defense, analogous to the Council of Impe- 
rial Defense in Great Britain, to be composed of cer- 
tain cabinet officers, certain senators and representatives 
in Congress, and certain army and navy officers. A bill 
to establish such a council had been introduced by Rep- 
resentative Richmond Pearson Hobson, and was intended 
to prevent misunderstandings on important military and 
naval questions. This measure had the support of the 
War Department, the General Board of the Navy and the 



538 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Army and Navy Joint Board of which Dewey was the 
head. I was never able to make the Secretary think 
favorably of such a council. 

In the latter part of this year I read ''The Great Il- 
lusion." It is a masterly book, and points out clearly 
that war is unprofitable in the long run. Of course it is. 
So is burglary, so is sin, and so is the indulgence of most 
human passions. This book ignores the existence of 
human passions, and is virtually based on the false as- 
sumption that the whole effort of everybody's life is to 
make money. It seems to me that the great illusion 
which this book really discloses is the illusion in the au- 
thor's mind that human beings are entirely different 
from what they basically are. 

I see the following entry in my diary: 

Dec. 31. End of 1913! Trying to get Secretary to give 
Capt. Bristol sufficient authority to get a good start for aero- 
nautics. I think Sec. will do so in the end, but Bristol seemed 
quite discouraged last night, & talked of giving up the job. 
Persuaded him to sleep on it : this morning he seems better. 

Shortly after becoming aid for operations I took up 
the matter of aeronautics. I had become increasingly im- 
pressed with the necessity of our developing aeronautics 
as quickly as possible, thinking that it would be a tre- 
mendous assistance to the fleet, especially for preventing 
actual invasion of the coast by the means which I had 
suggested for preventing invasion of the Philippines. I 
found that the Navy Department had done little in com- 
parison with what foreign navies had done, and that 
there was little prospect of doing much more. There 
was a captain in charge of aviation, but after several 
conversations with him, I saw that his mind wa-s more 
occupied with making certain inventions connected with 
aeroplanes than with the subject of developing an 
aeronautical service. I finally realized that I should 
have to get some new blood in; but it was not easy to 
find an officer who was available, who had the necessary 



NAVAL AERONAUTICS 539 

ability, and who was willing to take up his time on shore 
duty with such a new and untried thing. 

Finally I got hold of Conunander Bristol, who had 
just returned from a cruise in Asia ; but I found that he 
was not at all enthusiastic about taking up aviation, and 
that he wanted to become director of naval intelligence. 
After some iime I succeeded in impressing Bristol with 
the truth that the very fact of this being a new departure 
wa-s the best possible reason why he should assume the 
duty and not discard it. I told him that I considered 
it the most important thing for the navy to take up, be- 
cause aeronautics was the weakest place in the navy, and 
because a man would have an opportunity to do real con- 
structive work. So firmly was I impressed with the im- 
portance of aeronautics that I seriously entertained the 
idea of asking the Secretary to let me give up the posi- 
tion of aid for operations and take up aeronautics as 
my sole duty. 

Finally Bristol consented, and I got him ordered to 
special duty in the Navy Department. I could not get 
an office- for him for a long while, so that for nearly a 
year he occupied half of the big desk in my office. This 
was most inconvenient for me and for him as well, be- 
cause when any important official came in, such as an 
ambassador, minister, general, or admiral, I had to ask 
Bristol to go out. 

On January 27, 1914, I went to Hampton Roads and 
embarked on board the Louisiana to take a trip to Key 
Wes-t, in company with the New Hampshire, for the pur- 
pose of testing my ''prism system" of target-practice 
and gunnery. On February 4, while near Key West, I 
fired sixty-eight seven-inch shells at the New Hampshire. 
The experiment was a success in all ways, except that the 
gyroscopes failed to keep the prisms vertical. I thought 
that this could be rectified and I still do; but up to the 
present time I have not had an opportunity of taking up 
the invention again. I expect to do so soon and to make 
it a success. 



540 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAE-ADMIRAL 

Under date of Sunday, March 1, 1914, 1 see the follow- 
ing paragraph : 

I wrote a letter yesterday, to Mr. Padgett, which I asked Mr. 
Eoosevelt to sign, transmitting a copy of information that the 
German fleet in its autumn cruise will comprise certain numbers 
of vessels of various kinds, — and pointing out its enormous 
superiority to our fleet and that this superiority was going to 
increase each year. Mr, Roosevelt signed it and it was mailed. 

The information received was to the effect that the 
German Fleet at their manceuvers would have twenty- 
one battle-ships, three battle-cruisers, five small cruisers, 
six flotillas of destroyers (that is, sixty-six seagoing 
torpedo-vessels) eleven submarines, an airship, a number 
of aeroplanes and special service ships, and twenty-two 
mine-sweepers, all in one fleet, all under one admiral, and 
manoeuvered as a unit. 

Having had my alarm excited some years ago in regard 
to the German Navy, and feeling confident that its 
strategical control was much better than ours, this in- 
formation came to me with that kind of shock which one 
feels when bad news that is expected finally arrives. 
Here was the fact that not only was the German Fleet 
numerically larger than ours in all the important units, 
but that it already had incorporated in it, and was using 
in its strategical and tactical drills, agencies that were 
hardly even in the experimental stage of our navy. 

When I read about those manceuvers, and realized that 
the necessary planning had been done years before in 
an office in Germany like mine in the United States, I felt 
as an amateur is apt to feel when he sees a professional 
at work. 

To quote from my diary : 

March 16. Principal interest last week — to me — lay in paper 
of General Board, showing that the Dept. had taken no steps to 
put into effect the recommendation we made to Sec. last April, 
in the form of an Administrative Plan, by which the Dept. could 
get the Bureaus to take steps preparing for war. etc., etc. 



WINE MESS ORDER 541 

Mar. 19. Took to Sec. Daniels the paper of 6, B. showing 
that Dept. had no plan or system for getting prepared for war. 
I argued for half an hour. I might as well have tried to 
scratch a diamond with an iron file ! I could not make him see 
that Dept. is not really ready now! I could not make him see 
that the G. B. merely recommends very general plans, & that 
these have no effect, unless the recommendations are acted op! — 
Later, I talked to Asst. Sec. Roosevelt. Of course, he understood 
the principles at stake. 

Mar. 25. . . . Today Mr. Franklin Roosevelt & I concluded 
our (tentative) plan for the combined fleet & Army maneuvers 
next August, I interviewed Asst. Sec. War, Gen. Wood, Gen. 
Weaver & Gen. Mills about it — They were delighted! At end 
conference, concluded to appoint two navy and two army officers 
to work out details. 

Monday, Apr. 6. Feeling as to stopping of wine mess by Sec. 
is not one of surprise. Officers think it unwise, & that the effect 
will be to influence officers to smuggle whiskey & cocaine on 
board, & to take meals on shore, where they can drink whiskey 
— instead of wine & beer on board. — Sec. approves Sen. Weeks 's 
proposal to start navy line of freight, mail & passenger ships. 

When I received the secretary's order six weeks later, 
I expostulated orally, and then wrote him a very long 
letter concerning it, dated May 27, 1914. My letter was 
caused not so much by his prohibition of alcoholic liquors 
as by the way in which the order was expressed, and by 
the letter of the surgeon-general, on which the secretary's 
order was largely based. What excited my indignation 
was not the prohibition, but the fact that the Secretary's 
order and the surgeon-general's letter were so expressed 
as to give two very incorrect impressions. One impres- 
sion was that the Secretary's order abolished the use of 
liquor in the officers' messes on board ship, whereas it 
merely abolished the use of wine and beer; whisky and 
other spirituous liquors had been abolished fifty years be- 
fore on the initiative of Commodore Foote of our navy. 
The other impression made by the surgeon general's let- 
ter was that insobriety among the enlisted men was a 
negligible quantity, because they were not allowed liquor, 



542 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

and that they were in a much better state in the matter 
of sobriety than the officers were, who were allowed 
liquor. The letter of the surgeon-general was an in- 
sult to the navy and every officer in it. Near the close of 
my long letter, and in suggesting certain possible ill re- 
sults, was the sentence, ''Another effect would be an in- 
creased temptation to use cocaine and other drugs." 
This sentence was misquoted later, as will be narrated. 

At this time Badger was in command of the fleet, and 
Fletcher was second in command. I desired to relieve 
Badger when the end of his service should come, al- 
though the position of commander-in-chief of the fleet 
was not so important as that as aid for operations. For 
this reason some of my friends tried to dissuade me. My 
reason was, as I frequently stated, that I thought the 
older officers should show the example to the younger 
officers of applying for sea duty, and that it was bad 
for the younger officers to get the idea that shore stations 
were more important than sea stations. Personally, I 
did not desire the position, principally for the reason 
that my wife's health was becoming increasingly delicate. 
I made no official application, but I told the secretary 
that I should like the position, and that Fletcher would 
like to become aid for operations, with the view of be- 
coming commander-in-chief later, when I should retire in 
June, 1916. Fletcher and I were fast friends, and we 
had discussed this arrangement several times together. 
Fletcher was a year and a half younger than I. 

Some time in April, 1914, I asked the Secretary to let 
me exchange with Fletcher and take command of my old 
division. I fully expected to be commander-in-chief al- 
though the Secretary had made me no promise. I was 
senior to both Winslow and Fletcher, who were my only 
competitors. I knew that Fletcher ought to have com- 
mand of the fleet in case he wished it, because of his re- 
cent excellent ser\dce in Mexico. Both Dewey and Wain- 
wright had told me this, and I had agreed with them, and 
I had told them so, and several others besides. But 



FLETCHER'S TELEGRAM 543 

Fletcher had told me positively that he was willing to 
be aid for operations until I retired. 

Under date of April 30 is the following entry in my 
diary ; 

Sec. Nav. in accord, with my request telegraphed Fletcher, 
asking if he would like to change places with me. 

May 1. Fletcher answered above dispatch, saying he would 
not like to become aid for operations, as he wished to succeed 
present C. in C. in command of fleet! 

This telegram amazed me beyond words. I knew 
Fletcher well enough, however, to feel sure that some- 
thing had happened since the time when he told me that 
he would like to become aid for operations and have me 
take command of the fleet. I told the Secretary so, and 
said I expected to receive a letter from Fletcher explain- 
ing. In a few days I received a letter from Fletcher, 
saying that just before receiving the telegram he had seen 
an officer fresh from Washington who told him that he 
knew positively that the Secretary was to make Winslow 
the commander-in-chief, and that this was his reason 
for answering the telegram as he did, / told Secretary 
Daniels the substance of Fletcher's letter. 

To quote from my diary : 

June 12. Admiral Dewey seems to have suffered a slight 
stroke. N. Y. Sun publishes editorial on my "Diplomatic Re- 
sponsibility of Naval Officers" published in Institute. 

June 15, Sec. Nav. told me the accounts published in morn- 
ing papers were correct — that he is going to make Fletcher C. in 
C. — I told him I could make no objection — that I had continu- 
ously praised Fletcher as a fine admiral — & that he could make 
no mistake in making Fletcher C. in C. — I also told him that 
all the G. B. except Capt. Shoemaker had voted (informally) 
when I put the question — that the position of Aid for Operations 
was much more important than the position of C. in C. of 
fleet, although the position of C. in C. was much the more pleas- 
ant & desirable. Also that I held a position exactly like that 
which is called "First Sea Lord" in the British Navy, and 
Chief of Staff in other navies & in armies. 



544 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

July 26. . . . Servia has defied Austria's ultimatum. Russia 
must help Servia & Germany must help Austria ! Wonder how 
war can be avoided. 

July 27. Big European war seems to hinge on whether or not 
Russia comes to aid of Servia. 

I asked the Secretary for permission to spend the 
month of August in Newport with the General Board in- 
stead of taking the customary month's leave. He gave 
permission, and on July 29 I started for Newport. I 
reached Newport on July 31. 

July 31. Reached Newport and reported to Prest. War Col- 
lege for duty. War imminent. 

Though the war college was under me as aid for opera- 
tions, yet Admiral Knight was my senior officer and senior 
officer of the General Board, besides being president of 
the war college and commandant of the second naval 
district. 

The afternoon papers of July 31 were so positive that 
war was to be declared as to impress me with the neces- 
sity of acting immediately and getting the navy pre- 
pared as soon as possible for war. Although I was not 
a profound student of European affairs, I knew that Ger- 
many and Austria on one side, and Great Britain and 
France and Russia on the other side, had been bitterly 
hostile for several years, and that only the most skilful 
diplomacy had kept them from flying at one another's 
throats. Furthermore, it seemed to me that, because of 
the German character and the chaotic condition of Mari- 
time International Law, the United States, as the greatest 
maritime country after Great Britain and Germany, could 
hardly escape from being dragged into the war. 

So I decided that evening to request Knight to call 
a meeting of the General Board as early as possible the 
following morning, and to urge the board to write a letter 
to the department, pointing out the danger of our being 
brought into the war, and urging the department to take 
immediate steps to put the navy on a war footing. I 



LETTER OF GENERAL BOARD 545 

thought of suggesting to the department that the Presi- 
dent be urged to call a meeting of Congress immediately, 
but I realized that such an action might be considered as 
too great an assertion of military initiative, and so I gave 
up the idea. 

To quote from my diary: 

Aug. 1. Gen. Board — or rather the members present here — 
Knight, Fiske, Knapp, Hood & Shoemaaker — sent letter to 
Dep't, pointing out possible causes of danger in regard to Eu- 
ropean nations, especially in matters connected with our neu- 
trality — & concluded letter by recommending that all the battle- 
ships (except such as are needed in Mex. & Caribbean waters) 
be sent to their home yards, to be docked and gotten ready. I 
also sent a letter recommending this, as Aid for Operations & 
referring to G. B's letter. 

/ think this was the first step toward preparedness 
that was taken in the United States. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

THE UNPREPAKEDNESS OF THE NAVY 

I REMAINED at the war college throughout the month 
of August, 1914. Naturally, the subject of the war 
occupied our minds virtually all of the time. We all 
realized that a situation of the utmost possible gravity 
confronted the United States. We knew that Russia 
and France had been defeated tremendously in the two 
last wars in which they had engaged, and that the fault 
had been wholly theirs. Russia had proved in her war 
with Japan that she was incapable of fighting success- 
fully in a modern war, and France had proved the same 
thing forty-four years before. Russia's defeat had been 
so recent as to show there was small probability of her 
being able to fight effectively; and although France had 
had forty-three years in which to get ready for war, we 
knew that she had not been preparing as Germany had 
been. We saw little to make us believe that France was 
in good condition. The most discouraging single thing 
was the fact that one man, Camille Pelletan, had been 
allowed almost to ruin the French Navy in four years. 
What could such a fact prove except that there was some- 
thing radically weak in the French nation? We knew 
of the Dreyfus scandal, and of the many political and 
social scandals in which people occupying high position in 
France had been involved. Regarding Great Britain, 
we know that her navy was the best in the world, but we 
had some reasons for supposing that it was not quite so 
efficient in point of the utilization of modern scientific 
methods as the German Navy. As to the British Army, 
we knew what Lord Roberts, Lord Kitchener, and others 
had said, and we believed what they said. We knew how 
the British nation had treated Lord Roberts, and this 

546 



THE UNPREPAREDNESS OF THE NAVY 547 

did not give us much hopefulness as to what Great Britain 
could do. We knew also that Germany was the most effi- 
cient nation in the world, and that she made a business 
of war not only in the army and navy, but also in the 
entire government; so that Germany was prepared for 
war not only militarily, but economically. We knew that 
not only was she better prepared for starting war, but 
that she was better prepared for waging war, because 
she had trained men to handle the army and navy; 
whereas in Great Britain and France the army and navy 
were handled by politicians, and in Russia by grand 
dukes. 

But the most discouraging single conviction was that 
Germany would not have gone into the war unless she 
felt absolutely sure that she would win it. We knew 
the methods of the German General Staff, because those 
were the methods which we at the war college were try- 
ing to learn. We knew that all the nations that would 
fight Germany would fight her by methods which they 
had learned from Germany and in the practice of which 
they were less skilled. We knew that Germany had a 
system of getting intelligence from other countries by 
means of secret agencies; so that it was virtually im- 
possible that Germany could be laboring under many 
serious misapprehensions in regard to her antagonists. 
We knew that Germany was ''out for the stuff," just as 
much as any highwaymen that hold up a railroad train. 
We knew that Germany had made a careful ' ' estimate of 
the situation" in regard to Denmark, and after that, 
had deliberately attacked her with success in 1864. We 
knew that she had done the same thing to Austria in 1866. 
We knew that she had done the same thing to France in 
1870. We knew that since then Germany had been pre- 
paring not only militarily, but economically, and we felt 
convinced that she had first made an estimate of the 
situation in regard to Great Britain, France, and Russia, 
and had then deliberately attacked them in the light of 
that estimate. Therefore most of us, including myself, 



548 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

concluded that the chances of success were greatly in 
favor of Germany. Being convinced of this, and know- 
ing Germany's hatred for the United States, we saw 
ahead of the United States a situation of the greatest 
possible peril. 

I left Newport on the evening of August 30, and ar- 
rived at the Navy Department at nine o'clock on the 
morning of September 1. I expected to find an atmos- 
phere of tension and excitement. I found perfect calm. 
No one seemed to think that anything in particular had 
happened or was going to happen. The officers with 
whom I talked expressed a mild surprise that the admin- 
istration had not called an extra session of Congress 
and started to get the army and navy ready ; but as most 
of these officers were in positions in which their whole 
duty was to carry out orders received from superior 
authority, they seemed to feel at ease. Some of the 
higher officers, however, were distinctly uneasy. 

My diary says : 

Sept. 1. Reported return to Sec. Had good talk with Sec. 
& tried to impress him with seriousness of fleet's unprepared- 
ness. I doubt if I succeeded. I explained target practice, etc. 
Sec. has created office of "Aid for Education," & is much stuck 
on idea! Gosh! 

I suddenly realized that during the month of August, 
1914, when the whole civilized world had been thrown 
into the piaelstrom of actual and threatened war, most 
of our fleet had been kept in Mexican waters, instead of 
being sent North and got ready, and that the Secretary 
was carrying out as an important project — not the pre- 
paring of the fleet, but the establishment of an elaborate 
system for educating the enlisted men. He had ordered 
Captain George R. Clark to assume the duties of aid for 
education, and had given him as an office, the large room 
next to mine, formerly occupied by the aid for personnel. 
By this time the position of aid for personnel had be- 
come vacant. 



THE UNPREPAREDNESS OF THE NAVY 549 

The position of aid for personnel was analogous to that 
of second sea lord in the British Navy and chief of the 
naval cabinet in the German Navy. ^In the German 
Navy the Navy Department was divided into three parts, 
each presided over by its appropriate chief. Of these 
chiefs the chief of staff did the planning; the chief of 
the naval cabinet issued the orders to the officers and 
men ; and the minister of marine provided the material in 
the shape of ships, guns, etc. These three officials re- 
ported to the kaiser direct, and received orders from 
him direct. The kaiser was the commander-in-chief of 
the navy and the army, as is our President. In Germany 
there was no intermediary between the commander-in- 
chief and the forces which he commanded. The German 
system worked very well. (I wish we had it.) 

In the early part of September my diary deals mostly 
with the situation in Mexico, with what to me looked like 
the inefficiency of the State Department, and with ques- 
tions of international law. An international law board 
had been formed to give advice to the State Depart- 
ment when international law situations came up. One 
of the members of the board was a civilian ; the other two 
members were Captain H. S. Knapp, and Captain J. H. 
Oliver of the navy. 

My position soon became excessively disagreeable. I 
think that the time between the first of September and 
the seventeenth of December, 1914, when I gave my testi- 
mony to Congress, was the unhappiest time in my life. 
If I could have had the support of Admiral Dewey, it 
would have helped me a great deal ; but Admiral Dewey 
at this time was suffering from the effects of the partial 
stroke which he had received on June 12, and had been 
warned by the doctors not to exert himself in any way 
either physically or mentally, and, above all, to avoid 
all causes of excitement. He was seventy-seven years 
old, and was never again 'the same man after his attack. 
He was always kind to me, almost affectionate, and con- 
tinually assured me of his approval and of his wish 



550 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

that he could help me. He often said something like 
this, ''I wouldn't have your job for anything in the 
world; but you 're the best man we have for the job, 
and you 've got to hold on to it." I was very unhappy 
indeed. I could see the German machine smashing its 
way across the mineral-bearing part of France, crushing 
the comparatively improvised machines of England and 
France, and threatening the very existence of the United 
States — and we watching the spectacle as a child watches 
a fire spreading. 

Some quotations from my diary are: 

Sept. 12. At Baltimore today, Sec. State said new era of 
Peace is about to dawn ! ! Made out & out peace speech ! Gosh. 
This foreshadows his attitude & that of Sec. Nav. in coming 
contentions as to lessons of this War towards U. S. Army & 
Navy! 

Sept. 14. Fletcher came in today. Dined together, & trying 
to arrange program for fleet. Agree that trouble is not with 
Mr. Daniels, as an individual, but with the fact that he is given 
absolute & uncontrolled power over a great machine he does not 
understand. 

Sept. 20. I am elected member "National Institute of Social 
Sciences." Good. This is an honorable distinction, as the mem- 
bership is elective, & limited to those who have done something 
distinctive for humanity. 

Sept. 24, After conference with Gen. Wotherspoon, Chief of 
Staff of the Army, I tried to get Sec. to see the wisdom of put- 
ting more Army at Vera Cruz, & taking away the navy. I tried 
to show the reasonableness of this plan, from all points of view, 
European & Mexican, military, national & international. From 
each separate standpoint, the wisdom of what the Army & Navy 
have all the time advised becomes apparent. All of this Mexican 
tragedy would have been avoided if the recommendations of the 
Army & Navy had been followed in this Mexican matter, for it 
is a subject of which they know more than anyone else, by reason 
of their acquaintanceship with the Spanish-American character, 
& the fact that an important factor in the Mexican situation is 
the military factor. There seems to be almost a determination 
to deny the fact that the military ingredient exists in our national 
& international life. 



THE UNPREPAREDNESS OF THE NAVY 551 

Sept. 26, 1914. Sec. still absent, also Asst. Sec. ... I told 
Lansing — Counsellor State Dept. — that if the State Dept wore 
away the efficiency of the navy by keeping the fleet divided, back- 
ing up State Dept 's comparatively unimportant policies in places 
like Haiti & Mex., it may some day need an efficient navy to 
back up an important policy, & find there is no efficient navy, 
wherewith to back up that policy. 

Sept. 28. Sec. Nav. & I — & thousands of others, witnessed 
flights & turns & twists in the air of the aviator Beachey. — 
Bristol & I want 2 million next year for air craft. — I tried very 
hard to impress Sec. with gravity of situation as to unprepared- 
ness of fleet. 

Sept. 29. I told Sec. — (trying to get three ships sent north 
from Mexico in place of three ships just going there) that — if 
public attention were called anxiously & critically to the navy, 
because of antagonistic relations with Germany or other country, 
— ^that the navy could not stand inspection, because it had been 
kept so divided up for a year & a half. 

On October first I had a talk with the secretary in rela- 
tion to certain inventions made by Isham. I told the Sec- 
retary that I considered that most of Mr. Isham's inven- 
tions were not at all practical, but that one of his inven- 
tions, a diving-shell, ought to be given a careful trial. 
I explained that Isham claimed that his shell was so 
shaped, and his fuse so constructed that if the shell struck 
the water, say one hundred feet short of a ship, it 
would not ricochet above the water, but would dive, and 
strike the under-body part of the ship and explode ; and 
that, even if it missed the ship, it would explode about 
a second after striking the water, and near the ship. I 
told the Secretary that this would be a very valuable 
weapon for fighting destroyers and submarines and even 
battleships if it could be made to work. I told him also 
that I thought that it could be made to work ; that I was 
confident that I, for instance, could make it work. Isham 
was backed by Representative Hobson, the hero of the 
Merrimac, who had been graduated from Annapolis at 
the head of his class, and who was a very brilliant man. 
I recommended that a board try it, and suggested Ad- 



552 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

miral Badger as its head. The Secretary asked me to be 
the head of the board instead. I was very glad to be 
at the head of the board because I was more interested in 
naval gunnery than in anything else, and thought that I 
knew more about it than about anything else. 

Our work with the Isham shell lasted a year and a 
half. It was finally stopped when it seemed to me that 
the main difficulties had been overcome. I think the div- 
ing-shell fired against submarines later was virtually the 
same thing. 

For several days my entries are concerned with the 
Japanese situation in the Pacific, the war in Europe, and 
indications of possible anarchy in Mexico. 

Oct. 8. Told Sec. we need 5000 additional enlisted men more 
than we need an additional battleship. Some effect made, (I 
think). 

Oct. 16. . . . Representative A. P. Gardner introduced resolu- 
tion asking for Commission to inquire into preparedness of 
Army & Navy. 

Oct. 18. Representative Gardner's resolution & subsequent 
speech do not seem to have made much impression. Senator 
Stone, Chairman Foreign Relations Committee, made inflamma- 
tory speech regarding searching of U. S. Merchant ships by 
foreign men of war, & making German reservists on board parole 
themselves. 

During the middle of October the newspapers devoted 
a good deal of space to Mr. Gardner's resolution to in- 
quire into the condition of the national defenses, and 
many of them published favorable editorials. 

Oct. 20. Sec. gave out statement saying Gen. Staff not con- 
sonant with principles of this Republic! Gosh! 

Oct. 23. ... I have told Capt. Smith to be ready to act as 
my Asst. & to get himself well posted on our war plans. Had 
meeting in my office with my "War staff," composed of Capt. 
Roy Smith, Lt. Comdrs. Cronan & Madison & Lieut. Leigh 
Noyes. We discussed preparation of Dept for war, & "station 
bill" of officers at Dept in time of war., etc. 



THE UNPREPAREDNESS OF THE NAVY 553 

Oct. 24. ... I told Asst. Sec. we must not accept any ** pallia- 
tive" for present situation, but insist on Gen. Staff. He said 
he would agree if I thought there was any chance of getting it. 
I told him I thought there was an excellent chance if we 
held firm. He said he would stop trying to get a "palliative" 
& would try to get Gen. Staff. 

Oct. 26. I held another meeting of my ''War staff" — Ad- 
miral Knight being present as temporary member. ... I think 
I shall try to develop a real & practical War Plan, by which we 
can mobilize if war comes & then handle our forces. 

The entries in my diary for the next few days con- 
cern the developments of the war and points in interna- 
tional law. I was brought almost daily into intimate con- 
ferences with Comisellor Lansing as to the mutual and co- 
ordinate actions of the State and Navy departments. I 
had admired Mr. Moore so much that I was prepared to 
find in Mr. Lansing a rather inferior person. But I soon 
discovered that Mr. Lansing, instead of being an inferior 
person, was a man of great ability, perfect courage, and 
strict integrity. During all the conferences that I held 
with him, extending over more than a year, sometimes in 
his office and sometimes in mine, we never disagreed on a 
single point except once. On that occasion our disagree- 
ment was very slight, and resulted from a misunder- 
standing in each man as to what the other meant, and it 
was immediately cleared up. 

Oct. 29. ... I was amazed yesterday to get an official letter 
signed by Chief Bureau Navigation, saying that (showing cer- 
tain figures), we could cut down the crews of certain vessels & 
stations & have more men in the navy than are needed ! 

Before this, I had realized that he and the Aid for Material 
were siding with the Secretary against me. This was hard to 
bear. 

Park Benjamin's article on my invention "The Flying Fish 
Torpedo ' ' for discharging torpedoes from aeroplanes, with a fine 
full-page illustration has come out in The Independent. Had 
meeting of "My War Staff." Discussed Admiralty, Esher, 
Moody, Swift organization plans. 



554 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Nov. 2. Sec. returned & was most cordial and delightful. 

Nov. 4. . . . Naval battle off Coast of Chile. — Victory for 
Germans, showing apparently better strategy, in getting more 
ships there than British had ; also better gunnery. This is due, 
I think, to precision of German methods. 

During the time that had elapsed since my return from 
the war college, I bad done all I possibly could to im- 
press the Secretary with the fact that our navy was not 
prepared for war with any navy like the German Navy, 
and that there was an actual danger of our being drawn 
into the war ; but I could make no impression on him. In 
my efforts I was backed up cordially by most of the Gen- 
eral Board and by most of the officers of the navy. I was 
continually in receipt of letters and oral remarks from 
officers, in which they praised the stand I was taking 
and urged me to keep it up. No supporter that I had 
was abler, more loyal or more energetic than Lieutenant- 
Commander Cronan, who was my senior assistant in 
the office, or Lieutenant-Commander Madison, or, in a 
somewhat less degree, because he was younger. Lieu- 
tenant Leigh Noyes. My senior assistant when I first 
became aid for operations, was Lieutenant-Commander 
W. C. Watts, a man of splendid ability and character, but 
whose service with me was not in such difficult times as 
when his successor Cronan was there. When the time 
had come for Watts to go to sea, he had recommended 
Cronan as his successor, and I had such confidence in 
Watts 's judgment that I accepted his advice. 

Toward the latter part of October, Cronan advised me 
to put into an official paper all the advice and recom- 
mendations as to preparedness which I had been urging 
upon the Secretary, and to file the paper in the official 
records. Cronan said that we were going to get into 
the war ^'as sure as shooting," and that if the navy 
got into the war as unprepared as it was, and if disaster 
followed, everybody would put the blame on the naval 
officers who happened to be in positions of responsibility 



THE UNPREPAREDNESS OF THE NAVY 555 

at the time unless the truth was told and recorded in ad- 
vance. 

I took Cronan^s advice, and wrote a paper very care- 
fully on the unpreparedness of the navy. I showed this 
letter to a number of officers in order that I might have 
the advantage of any comments or criticism they might 
make. In regard to this letter I find the following para- 
graph in my entries of November 5 : 

I showed Sec. a paper I had written to him, stating navy is 
unprepared, & needs more men, more training & a general 
staff. He made almost no comment on my paper, though he 
read it carefully. 

On the forenoon of November 5 Captain Roy Smith, 
who was an unrecognized first assistant to me (I could not 
get a recognized assistant), was in my office talking over 
with me my projected plan of getting the Navy Depart- 
ment on a war basis, when Cronan came into the office 
with the last draft of the paper I had written. Smith 
was already familiar with it, but the three of us talked 
it over for a few minutes, and then I took it into the Sec- 
retary. After the Secretary had read the letter, he re- 
turned it to me, and I went back to my office. Smith and 
Cronan were still there, and I told them of the failure 
I had met. Then I put the letter on my desk, saying 
that I intended to speak to the Secretary about it again. 
I did not do so, however, thinking that it would do no 
good; and I finally filed it. The date the paper finally 
had when filed was November 9, 1914. 

I have written many papers in my life. This paper 
was the most important one I have ever written. It 
read as follows : 

Navy Department, 
Washmgton, November 9, 1914. 
From : Aid for Operations. 
To : Secretary of the Navy. 
Subject: The Navy's unpreparedness for war. 

1. I Ijeg leave, respectfully but urgently, to request the at- 



556 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tention of the Secretary to the fact that the United States 
Navy is unprepared for war. 

2. It is true that the United States does not expect to get into 
war in the near future, and is not preparing for war. It is 
true that nothing could be more unwise than for the country or 
the Navy itself to become nervous about the condition of war 
into which most of the civilized world has been plunged. It is 
true that there is no cause for excitement, and it is also true 
that even the most timid person can give no specific reason for 
anticipating war with any given country, at any given time. 

3. It is also true, however, that the mere absence of actual cer- 
tainty of coming war is no reason for neglecting preparation. 
Some persons assume that a disposition to make preparation evi- 
dences a state of alarm in the mind of the person who proposes 
to make preparation. Yet such an assumption is entirely il- 
logical. Wise men and wise nations show their wisdom in no 
better way than by taking wise precautions against possible 
dangers. The prevalence of smallpox induces wise people to 
guard their families against it by vaccination. They do not 
expect to be attacked by smallpox, but nevertheless they think 
it wise to take precautions against it. 

4. Because of the position which I have occupied for more 
than a year and a half as senior adviser to the Secretary of the 
Navy, it has been my duty to keep myself informed, so far 
as I have been able, of the condition of the various nations in 
relation to war, the effects of that condition upon us, the strength 
of our Navy compared with other navies, and the degree of 
probability of our being dragged into war. 

5. The present condition all ovet the world is one of general 
upheaval. The state of unstable equilibrium which the great 
powers maintained for many years with great skill and care has 
been at last upset. A conflict is going on, very few results of 
which can be foretold. One thing probably can be foretold, 
however. I mean that it can be foretold that the conflict will 
be violent and also will be long, involving other countries than 
those now taking part, and followed, even after the war at 
present outlined has been ended, by a series of more or less violent 
readjustments of boundaries, insular possessions, treaties, and 
agreements of every kind. 

6. Surely he would be an optimist who would expect that a 
state of general peace will come in less than five years. During 



MY LETTER OF NOVEMBER 9, 1914 557 

the next five years we must expect a great number of causes of 
disagreement between tiiis country and other countries, and 
periods of tension between this Government and others ; periods 
like that preceding the Spanish War, needing only a casualty like 
the blowing up of the Maine to precipitate a conflict. 

7. In my opinion, as your professional adviser, and in the 
opinion of every naval officer with whom I have talked, the 
United States is in danger of being drawn into war and will 
continue to be in danger for several years. And when I say 
war, I do not mean war of the kind that we had with Spain, 
but war with a great power, carried on in the same ruthless spirit 
and in the same wholesale manner as that which pervades the 
fighting in Europe now. It is true that I can not specify the 
country with which war is most probable, nor the time, nor the 
cause. But my studies of wars in the past, and my observa- 
tions of conditions at the present time, convince me that if this 
country avoids war during the next five years it will be accom- 
plished only by a happy combination of high diplomatic skill and 
rare good fortune. 

8. Would it be wise to base all our hopes of national safety 

•n such a frail foundation? Would it be wise to close our eyes 

vo the dangers that confront us ? Would it not be wiser to look 

the dangers clearly in the face and take reasonable precaution 

to avert them? 

9. Comparing our Navy with the navies which we may have to 
meet in war, I find that our Navy is unprepared in three ways : 

10. First, it has an insufficient number of officers and enlisted 
men. The number of officers can not be increased — that is, the 
number of suitable officers — because it takes four years to get a 
midshipman through the academy and several years afterwards 
to train him. But the number of enlisted men can be increased, 
and very quickly. It has been said that in time of war we 
could add to our enlisted personnel from the Naval Reserve 
and the Naval Militia. To my mind, this is a visionary notion, 
with no basis of fact to rest upon. We have been working to 
get a naval reserve and a Naval Militia for more than 30 years ; 
scores of expedients have been tried, and the only result has 
been no naval reserves at all and less than 7,000 incompletely 
trained militia. Possibly we may do better with the Naval 
Reserve in the future than in the past, but only possibly, not 
probably. All reasonable expectation for the future is based, 



558 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAB.-ADMIRAL 

and must be based, on the experience of the past, and the experi- 
ence of the past shows us that to place dependence on the Naval 
Militia and the Naval Reserve is to place dependence on hope, 
not reasonable expectation. The only men we can depend upon 
for naval work on board our ships are men who are enlisted 
regularly, who have been trained on board our ships, and wear 
the naval uniform. But even if we would expect reasonably to 
get a naval reserve in the future, the fact remains that we want 
enlisted men right now. To man the ships which should be used 
in war we need 19,600 more men. 

11. The second way in which I find our Navy unprepared is 
in departmental organization. Our ships are well organized 
and pretty well drilled; the fleets are well organized, though 
not very well drilled, but the department itself is neither organ- 
ized nor drilled in a military way. Perhaps this is nobody's 
fault, and may be attributed to the fact that our Navy has 
never had to fight a serious enemy — certainly not in 100 years. 
The people of the covintry have naturally devoted their energy 
along the paths of most obvious profit, and have not been con- 
fronted with any obvious military dangers. But in my opinion 
there is an obvious military danger at present, and the Navy De- 
partment should be organized to meet it. The organization 
which other navies and all armies of great powers employ to meet 
this danger is known, in English, by the phrase "general staff." 
In different languages, of course, the words are different ; but the 
meaning is the same. In Great Britain it is called the "Board 
of Admiralty." This "general staff" has as its first duty 
preparation for war ; and as its second duty, the conduct of war 
when war comes. In making preparation for war, the "general 
staff" makes war plans. These war plans are of two kinds, 
general and specific. The general plans are simply analyses of 
what should be the general conduct of the Navy in case of war; 
and the specific plans are plans in which the general plans are 
worked out in detail. Besides these general and specific plans, 
however, the "general staff" devises means whereby informa- 
tion regarding these general and specific plans shall be given to 
the various executive bureaus and divisions, corrected up to date ; 
and whereby the various executive bureaus and visions shall al- 
ways be compelled to be ready to carry the various parts of 
those plans into immediate effect. 

12, In directing the conduct of a war, the "general staff," 



MY LETTER OF NOVEMBER 9, 1914 559 

under the direction of the minister, sees to it that all informa- 
tion is kept up to date and supplied to the various commanders, 
and that all machinery for carrying out their decisions is kept 
in working order. / 

13. Our Navy Department has no machinery for doing what a 
* ' general staff ' ' does. The closest approach to it is the General 
Board, which, as part of its numerous duties, "shall devise 
measures and plans for the effective preparation and maintenance 
of the fleet for war," and "shall prepare and submit to the 
Secretary of the Navy plans of campaign," etc. The General 
Board does carry out these duties, but the plans that it makes 
are general and elementary. It exists entirely as an advisory 
board to the Secretary of the Navy. It is highly valuable; 
but, as its name indicates, it is only a "General Board." It 
does hardly 1 per cent of the duties that a "general staff" 
would do. Having no executive authority and no responsibility, 
and being called upon to do a great variety of work, it has not 
the time to prepare specific plans, and has no means to see that 
even its general plans are ever carried out. If we compare our 
General Board with the "g-eneral staff" of any other country, 
or with the Admiralty of Great Britain, and when we see what 
those "general staffs" have been accomplishing during the past 
three months, we must become convinced that unless we go on 
the theory that we shall always have peace we shall be whipped 
if we ever are brought into war with any one of the great naval 
powers of Europe or Asia. We shall be like the lawyer who has 
not prepared his case when pitted against the lawyer who has 
prepared his case. We shall be as the French were before the 
Germans in 1870. 

14. The performance of the German Army during the last 
three months is the greatest triumph of the human mind and 
the human will that has ever been accomplished. It is not the 
triumph of one mind or one will, but the triumph of several 
million minds and several million wills, coordinated by a general 
staff with a degree of perfection that the world has never be- 
fore seen. This pace being set, any navy not provided with a 
"general staff" is a navy not provided with "the most modern 
improvements. ' ' 

15. The third way in which I find our Navy deficient is in 
training. This deficiency in training is due not to lack of spirit 
or ability but to a combination of the two preceding causes ; that 



560 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

is, to msufifieient personnel and lack of departmental organiza- 
tion, to which must be added lack of small ships. I mean that 
because we have had not enough small ships to do work on the 
coasts of Haiti, San Domingo, and Mexico, because our ships 
have been insufficiently manned, and because the Navy Depart- 
ment has had no "general staff" which would devise and carry 
out a progressive system of training, lack of progressive train- 
ing has resulted. When I say lack of progressive training I mean 
lack of training such as the Germans and other nations have. 
I mean lack of training that secures a high degree of skill. If 
we are forced into war with a navy like Germany's or England's 
or Japan's, our training should be at least as good as theirs; 
or rather our skill should be. It is impossible for me or for 
anybody to compare exactly the skill of our Navy with the skill 
of other navies; but, on the theory that cause produces effect, 
we must admit that we have not had nearly so good a system 
to produce skill as other navies have. The developing of skill 
in the navies and armies of the other great powers is carried out 
with a vigor and persistency that we can not approach, and has 
been directed by an organized intelligence that certainly has 
no superior and probably no equal in any other branch of 
human effort. 

16. The subject of the improper organization of our Navy 
Department was exhaustively analyzed by the Moody Board and 
afterwards by the Swift Board in 1909. Certain recommenda- 
tions were made to remedy the evils that they found. These 
recommendations have not been carried out. They were, in 
effect, to establish a * ' general staff, ' ' though the words ' ' general 
staff" were not used. In my opinion, the failure to adopt those 
recommendations was serious, and will invite disaster if a great 
war comes. 

B. A. FiSKE. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGEESS AND CHIEF OF NAVAL 
OPERATIONS 

THE entries in my diary for the month of November 
are concerned mostly with endeavors to induce the 
Secretary to ask Congress to ask for more enlisted men 
for the navy. My main point was that the navies of 
Europe were the navies of military countries, and in- 
cluded large reserves of seamen who had served in the 
navy and were very well trained ; whereas we had no re- 
serves whatever that were worthy of the name. I talked 
to him a great deal about the necessity for skill in the 
enlisted men, and showed that, no matter how good a gun 
a man might fire, that gun could do no service unless its 
projectile hit the .target, etc. I pointed out that even 
trained reserves could not be as good as regulars, and I 
illustrated this by the German naval victory off the coast 
of Chile, in which the German ships were manned by 
regulars and the British by reserve crews. My entries 
show that I had almost daily talks with the Secretary on 
this matter, but could make no impression. 

Under date of November 14 were many entries from 
which I will quote one as showing the general character 
of the entries in my diary during this period : 

Nov. 14. . . . See. and I had a very free and frank talk. 
Interview ended with my agreeing to return their letter to Gen. 
Board; suggesting Board omit any mention of 19,600 more 
men. 

Nov. 15. Sunday. Admiral A. T. Mahan in church this 
morning. Looked well, but a little older. He joined in all the 
singing. 

Nov. 16. Going down to the Fleet this evening with the 

561 



562 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

officers of the Target Practice office, to see the target practice 
of the Fleet. 

Nov. 23. Eeturned from the Fleet this morning. The target 
practice was very much obstructed & delayed by thick weather. 
What was done did not seem particularly good. And the 
maneuvers were not very skilfully performed. Lack of prac- 
tice was evident throughout. And there were only 11 bat- 
tleships & 12 destroyers present; no submarines. This is the 
unfortunate result of our Mexican policy. 

Nov. 27. British battleship Bulwark sunk in Thames River. 
This seems incredible. My guess is that it was done by a 
submarine. . . . Sec. Nav. is against any increase of enlisted 
personnel ! A movement is started by prominent men in N. Y. 
to support Repr. Gardner, & investigate state of national de- 
fenses ! ! ! 

Nov. 28. U. S. Safety League is formed in Chicago ! Taft, 
Miles, Goethals, etc., are members. 

The entries in my diary for several days deal with my 
endeavors to get more enlisted men for the navy and to 
prevent battle-ships being sent into the Pacific. 

Dec. 2. Continued agitation in papers concerning our un- 
preparedness. . . . Adm. A. T. Mahan died yesterday of heart 
disease. 

Dec. 3. ... I am liable to be bounced any day. This issue 
as to whether or not we have enough men to man the fleet we 
would use in war, is a most serious issue. 

Dec. 7. . . . Adm. Fletcher arrived, in obedience to orders, to 
testify before House Naval Committee tomorrow. Badger also 
is to testify. I am quite sure Sec. does not wish me to appear 
or testify. In See's annual report, he says navy does not need 
any more men, or at least can get along without them, and he 
will not ask for them. He prints 6. B. report, but does not 
say that he told Gen. Bd. he would not print it unless G. B. 
left out the part asking for more men. The Sec 's report is abso- 
lutely the reverse in its character, of my report to him, made only 
three weeks before ; and yet I am his military adviser ! One head- 
line is "Proof of the Preparedness of the Navy." (Page 52.) 

Dec. 8 and 9. Badger & Fletcher have testified before the 
House Naval Committee. Committee on Rules refused Mr. 
Gardner's request to summon officers and others before it. 



TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS 563 

Dec. 10. Adm. Fletcher was before the House Naval Com- 
mittee nearly all day yesterday. He brought out many naval 
needs, but I think he made the Personnel situation too rosy. I 
am disappointed at neutralness and colorlessness of testimony 
of Badger. 

Dec. 11. Sec. was before Committee yesterday. 

My entry under this date makes many comments on his 
testimony. 

Dec. 12. Sec. was before Naval Committee of House nearly 
all day yesterday. Commander Yates Stirling, comdr. of sub- 
marine Flotilla arrived at Dept. having rec'd. orders to testify 
before Naval Committee as to causes, etc., of submarine failures. 
. . . Fletcher tells me that — in a talk he had with Sec. this 
a. m., — Sec. said he expected to send fleet into Pacific, & keep 
it there nearly all of 1915 !! ! 

"Dec. 15. . . . Commdr. Yates Stirling was before House 
Naval Committee yesterday. Asst. Sec. Roosevelt goes today. 
He was in my office two hours yesterday, getting data, etc., etc., 
etc. Sec. is very much provoked against Yates Stirling, & has 
called for all papers that passed between Dept. and subr. 
flotilla in last year or so. 

I was exceedingly disturbed by the character of the 
testimony given to the House Naval Committee by 
various officials of the Navy Department. I was exceed- 
ingly unhappy. Sometimes I had the feeling which I had 
so often when I was urging the adoption of the telescope 
sight — that I must be somewhat insane. Most of the de- 
partment officials looked at matters very dii¥erently from 
the way that I did, and each touched so lightly on any de- 
fects that the combined effect of all was to give the im- 
pression to Congress, and therefore to the nation, that 
the navy was in a high state of preparedness. As I 
knew that, although the separate parts of the naval ma- 
chine (ships, guns, men, etc.), were good, yet that those 
separate parts had not been so put together as to make 
an efficient machine, I determined, at all costs to me per- 
sonally, to get the real truth before the nation if I could. 
I was convinced by this time that the Secretary did not 



564 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

want me to testify before the committee ; and yet I was, 
ex-officio and actually, the man best fitted to tell Congress 
what was the real condition of the United States Navy 
compared with other navies. I knew that an emergency 
existed for the navy, that the United States was going to 
get into the war, and that time and opportunity were be- 
ing wasted which could never he redeemed. I could not 
see for a long while how I was to get my views abroad. 
Finally, on the morning of December 16, while shivering 
in my bathtub, a beautiful idea occurred to me. 
My diary says : 

\ Dec. 16. I suggested to Hobson over phone this a. m. that 

— if he wanted to get straight news about the Army, he would 
get Committee to call for Ch. Gen. Staff. Hobson answered, 
"A word to the wise is sufficient," so I got word tonight to ap- 
pear before Committee tomorrow. 

I spent that evening in my office with Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Madison, who was the officer on duty there that 
evening. We discussed the subject of my testimony, and 
collected some papers which I could use to refresh my 
memory. Madison and I agreed that the navy could 
not be got into the same state of efficiency as the German 
Navy for many years. I told Madison that I wanted to 
bring out that point very strongly, and we discussed what 
number of years I should state as the time required, 
knowing, as we both did, that it was a matter of doubt 
whether the political influences in the United States would 
ever permit the navy to be as efficient as the German, and 
realizing that even if the politicians should all stand 
aside and permit a general staff to be established, it 
would probably take that general staff at least ten years 
to train itself and train the navy. "We finally decided 
that I should say that it would take at least five years to 
get the navy ready to fight a navy like the German, ef- 
fectively. 

My diary says: 




Photo, Harris & Ewing 



CAPTAIN ZACHARIAH H. MADISON 



TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS 565 

Dec. 17. ... I was before Committee at Hobson's request 
nearly all day to day, & never received more courteous treat- 
ment & more attention in my life — much to my surprise! I 
certainly startled Committee when I told them it would take 5 
years to get ready! Congressman Roberts took me to lunch 
in Capitol restaurant & I asked him to ask me how long it would 
take to get navy ready for war & I told him, I would answer 
5 years. Roberts took the hint. 

The Washington evening papers published most of my 
testimony, and I got several congratulatory messages 
over the telephone that evening. The first message I re- 
ceived was from my old classmate and roommate Dorn, 
who said that my action was the most splendid thing that 
had been done by any naval officer since the Civil War. 

On my walk down to the department the following 
morning numbers of navy officers, and army officers as 
well, came up to shake hands with me and thank me. I 
got to my office at nine o'clock, and found several officers 
waiting for me. All were most enthusiastic, and each one 
thanked me as if I had done him a personal favor. 
About a quarter after nine the Secretary's messenger 
came in and said the Secretary wanted to see me. All the 
officers became grave at once, and some of them said, *'He 
is going to fire you." They all seemed to think this, 
and I know I did. I expected to be sent to some distant 
place like Olongapo in the Philippines. 

I walked into the Secretary's office, and saw him sit- 
ting at his desk, with the palms of his hands downward 
on the table. He was very pale. I said, ''Good morn- 
ing, Mr. Secretary. ' ' He answered, * ' Good morning. Ad- 
miral." Then he looked at me fixedly for a few seconds, 
then spoke to me about some unimportant matter, and 
then I went out. When I reached my office I found the 
officers still there, waiting for my return in suppressed 
excitement. When I told them that nothing had hap- 
pened, they all expressed their gratification, and dis- 
persed to their various offices. 



566 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Dec. 21. My testimony has received very great approval 
everywhere. N. Y. World — Dec. 19 & 20, publishes editorials 
saying my testimony is the "most helpful" thing that has 
happened, & that I — alone — show the way to have good navy 
— by Gen. Staff. Sec. Daniels is polite and suave. He has said 
nothing, except to ask to see my testimony. I handed it to 
him today. I have been much surprised and pleased at the 
number of congratulatory letters, phone messages and oral 
statements & calls at my office, that I have received; — mostly 
from officers, but from others — even ladies! Col. Thompson 
came in to my office & was most flattering & kind in his con- 
gratulations. Gardner was the first man to start Preparedness 
publicly; I think I am the second. 

The part of my testimony that attracted the most at- 
tention was that which concerned the necessity for pre- 
paring immediately, the need for a general staff, the im- 
possibility of expanding a navy quickly and at the same 
time preserving its efificiency, and the necessity for years 
of training to make our navy as efificient as the German 
navy, with its thousands of trained and skilled reserves. 

But I took advantage of the opportunity to endeavor 
to impress the committee with the necessity of develop- 
ing aeronautics for offensive use. My examination in 
the matter of aeroplanes took up several pages in the 
printed report. I will make one quotation: 

Admiral Fiske. The aeroplanes which were used in Mexico 
could just as well have taken bombs and attacked Vera Cruz 
or Tampico with bombs. And so we must look forward to the 
possibility of that kind of an attack on our own coast ; we must 
consider the possibility of a fleet, without the assistance of any 
soldiers, attacking our shores in that way. Warships can carry 
aerial craft of that kind, aeroplanes, certainly; whether air- 
ships or not we do not know, but we have got to be prepared 
to meet such an attack. I think in such a case there is no 
question that they could send their aeroplanes — in case of a 
defeat of our fleet — they could send their aeroplanes over the 
land and make an attack, and possibly an effective attack, with- 
out any soldiers, on a city or other locality. 



TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS 567 

This was an entirely new idea in warfare, but it was 
carried out exactly a week from that day in the North 
Sea. British cruisers carried sea-planes to the neighbor- 
hood of Cuxhaven, near the end of the Kiel Canal, and 
lowered the sea-planes into the water. Then the sea- 
planes flew over the enemy works in the neighborhood 
and dropped bombs on them. 

The entries in my diary during the remainder of De- 
cember refer mainly to the congratulatory letters and 
messages that I continued to receive regarding my testi- 
mony, and also to my efforts to establish a general staff. 

Dec. 27. Sunday. Called on Hobson in p. m. and explained 
why a Gen. Staff is absolutely essential, if one is to have a navy 
of maximum effectiveness; though it is not necessary if one is 
to have merely a navy. 

Jan. 3. Sunday. Had long interview in p. m. with Hobson. 
at his residence, in regard to Gen. Staff, etc. I took many docu- 
ments with me, & Hobson became thoroughly interested. We 
concluded that it might be better not to attempt to get through 
legislation for any modification of Aid system, because Sec. would 
say present Aid system is adequate & that it might be better 
to propose a new scheme, whereby an addition would be made 
to present system & additional means be provided to accomplish 
preparation for war. So I asked Capts. H. S. Knapp, Hood & 
Oliver, & Lt. Comdrs. Cronan, Madison & Knox to be at Hob- 
son's at 8.30 p. m. We all met there in Hobson 's study, & 
sat till after 11 p. m. when we adjourned. We agreed on 
program whereby Chief of Naval Operations is to be legislated 
for & to have 15 assts ! ! 

The entries under head of December 27 and January 
3 give the outlines of a good deal of work that Hobson 
and I did on those days and in the intervening week. 
The plan which w^e drew up was drawn up in the light 
of my knowledge of strategical requirements and Hob- 
son's knowledge of congressional requirements. When 
the six officers arrived that evening, they came secretly 
because they were engaged on an exceedingly dangerous 
missionr~ I had expected more or less objection on the 



y 568 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

part of some of them to certain features of the bill as 
drawn, but I found that every one of them was enthusi- 
astically in favor of it. We eight men went over the 
whole subject very carefully, and when we finally came 
to an agreement, the original memorandum that Hobson 
and I had planned had been changed but little. 

During the discussion that evening it happened occa- 
sionally that some one would speak of the power and au- 
thority which I would have if that bill should pass. 
Whenever anybody made such a remark as that, I told 
him that, if Congress should authorize a chief of naval 
operations, I was absolutely certain that I would not be 
the chief of naval operations. I told them that I was 
positive that the secretary wanted to get rid of me, but 
could see no opportunity or give any reason for it, be- 
cause he knew that I was performing my duties to the 
satisfaction of the navy, including Admiral Dewey; but 
that if a new office was established by Congress, the secre- 
tary then would be perfectly free to appoint any one 
whom he wished. I told the company that I was like the 
well-known gentleman who sawed off a branch of a tree 
at a point between himself and the branch, except that 
that man did not realize what he was doing, and I did. 

Jan. 4. The 6 officers who met at Hobson 's last night met 
in my office at 8.30 a. m. & we drew up on neat typewritten page 
the proposition agreed on. Hobson came to my office at 10.15 
& took up the matter Math Sec. Hobson told me later that Sec. 
declared that if the bill went through he would "go home." 
How foolish! Now he has the chance to back it up & get 
back into good opinion of the country. Hobson came to our 
apartment at 2.20 & told me sub-committee — of which Padgett is 
chairman — passed the proposition unanimously ! Hobson asked 
me to get him a brief with which to argue matter before full 
committee Jan. 5. So Madison, Cronan, Dudley Knox & I 
met in my office from 9 p. m. till 11.15 p. m. & drew up brief, 
which Knox will leave at Hobson 's house at 9 a. m. tomorrow. 

Jan. 5. Papers give large space & headlines to action of 
sub-committee ! Dewey is delighted, & told me I might tell 
Hobson, which I did at 10.30 a. m. by telephone. 



TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGEESS 569 

Jan. 6. Hobson telephoned me at 1 p. m. that full House 
Naval Committee agreed unanimously on incorporating in naval 
appropriation bill the provisions for a "Chief of Naval Opera- 
tions"!! 

With the exception of Admiral Dewey, Hobson, and the 
six other officers, nobody knew that I or any other naval 
officer had any connection with this measure. 

Jan. 7. Evening papers last night and morning papers today 
confirm news that House Naval committee unanimously agreed 
to incorporate in Naval appropriation bill the provision, ' ' There 
shall be a Chief of Naval Operations." . . . New York papers 
give great space & comment (sympathetic) to establishment — 
Bureau of Operation. N. Y. Tribune is especially favorable) 
and the World — the leading democratic newspaper, gives the 
project its first column of first page, headed "Fixed Naval 
Policy Assured." It must hurt Mr. Daniels very much indeed 
to see the World taking a stand so antagonistic to him. 

When the Naval Appropriation Bill came up before the 
House, the provision for a chief of naval operations was 
stricken out on a point of order, on the motion by Mr. 
Mann. This did not surprise us because Hobson had 
said at the start that it was liable to this fate, being new 
legislation added to an appropriation bill. Hobson said 
that he thought he could get the Senate Naval Committee 
to put it back in the bill; he added, however, that this 
would give an opportunity for the Secretary to modify 
the provision by recommending certain changes in it, 
though he thought that the Secretary would not oppose a 
provision that had been agreed to by the full House com- 
mittee. 

Hobson 's prediction was verified in toto. The pro- 
vision, as finally incorporated in the bill by the Senate 
Naval Committee, was made to conform to the sugges- 
tions of the Secretary. In its amended form it was 
passed by both houses./ It established the office of chief 
of naval operations in a form which, though it omitted 
the fifteen assistants for making war plans which Hob- 



V 



570 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

son and I had suggested, accomplished nevertheless a 
greater advance than any other naval legislation had ac- 
complished in many years. Most officers said that it was 
as great a boon to the navy as the act of Congress, in 
1880, which authorized the "new navy" in the shape of 
the steel ships Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and Dolphin. 

On March 24 and 26, 1916, I testified again before the 
House Naval Committee, and made the strongest argu- 
ment I could in favor of putting back into the appropria- 
tion bill the provision for fifteen assistants for making 
war plans which had been left out in 1914. The sub- 
committee of the naval committee agreed to do this. 
When the matter came up before the full naval com- 
mittee, the committee divided half in half, most of the 
Republicans voting yes, and most of the Democrats no. 
As the subcommittee had recommended it, and the full 
committee had not rejected it, the full committee had to 
pass it, though half of them opposed it. 

This is the organization hy which the Navy Depart- 
ment handled the navy throughout the war. The excel- 
lence of the system is now admitted by everybody, in- 
cluding the Secretary. 

The appropriation bill, as finally passed, contained the 
provision for the fifteen assistants to the chief of naval 
operations that had been omitted from the previous bill, 
after having been included in the original draft of the 
House Naval Committee in the session previous. 

The language of the bill is : 

Hereafter the Chief of Naval Operations, while so serving as 
such Chief of Naval Operations, shall have the rank and title 
of admiral, to take rank next after The Admiral of the Navy, 
and shall while so serving as Chief of Naval Operations, receive 
the pay of $10,000 per annum and no allowances. All orders 
issued by the Chief of Naval Operations in performing the duties 
assigned him shall be performed under the authority of the 
Secretary of the Navy, and his orders shall be considered as 
emanating from the Secretary, and shall have full force and 
effect as such. To assist the Chief of Naval Operations in per- 



TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS 571 

forming the duties of his office there shall be assigned for this 
exclusive duty no less than fifteen officers of and above the 
rank of lieutenant commander of the Navy or major of the 
^larine Corps. 

The office of naval operations with the fifteen assistants 
"assigned for this exclusive duty" constitutes a general 
staff. 

Before I gave my first testimony, the personal rela- 
tions between the Secretary and me had been friendly and 
pleasant, though we disagreed entirely as to the desira- 
bility of getting the navy ready for war. Our disagree- 
ment on this point was extremely trying to me, for the 
reason that I liked the Secretary so much as a man. I 
appreciated his kindness of heart and his delicate refine- 
ment. I admired his steadfast adherence to the princi- 
ples of Christian conduct which he professed, and I was 
continually tempted to cease from urging him to under- 
take a course of conduct against which he was resolved. 
But I often told him that I was the only man in ninety 
million people to hold before him the military side of the 
navy, and that I felt it my duty to persist. He always 
told me that I was right in so doing, and for a long while 
I thought that I was gradually impressing him with our 
dangers. 

But his report of December 1, 1914, dispelled all my 
illusions on this point. I saw that I had not impressed 
him at all, and that the disagreeable and dangerous duty 
devolved on me of endeavoring to impress Congress and 
the people. Hence my testimony. 

Beginning with the morning after my testimony the 
Secretary's manner toward me changed entirely. He 
was always polite, but a cold formality took the place of 
a warm cordiality; disapproval was intimated in every 
way, though never expressed in words. But my period 
of misery had passed. I knew that I had done right, 
and that my testimony as the official expert of the Navy 
Department, had roused a powerful minority to a realiza- 
tion of the peril of the nation. 



s 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

WAR GAME, THE ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN, AND MY 
RESIGNATION 

OME entries in my diary read as follows: 



Jan. 27 — On board Dolphin in Tangier Sound all day, Rhode 
Island firing Isham shell with Isham fuses in direction of San 
Marcos (wreck) to see if Isham shell would travel under water 
after striking the water, and then explode after running one 
second of time. Only one did this perfectly; but this shows 
principle is correct, and only details are imperfect. 

Jan. 28 — Keturned to Wash, in Dolphin this A. M. and then 
went to Dept. Knight came in, and told me the Sec. was very 
angry with him for his speech. Yet all Knight did was to tell 
the truth about the efficiency of the navy! He told only what 
all naval officers knew, both American and Foreign! 

Jan. 30. At my suggestion Hobson called on Dewey in 
forenoon. Dewey expressed himself in favor of Ch. Nav. Op. — 
but (of course) does not want G. B. [General Board] wiped out. 
I pointed out this will not affect G. B. When App. Bill came 
up in Committee of whole today, Mann (rep. leader) had the 
provision for Chief Naval Operations stricken out on point of 
order. 

At this time the positions of aid for personnel and aid 
for inspections had been vacant for some time; so that 
the entire business of the department was virtually di- 
vided between the aid for operations and the aid for ma- 
terial. This does not mean that they did any work inde- 
pendently of the secretary or, in fact, that they did any 
executive work whatever; they were merely advisers. 
There was a third aid, the aid for education, but his work 
dealt solely with education. 

572 



WAR GAME 573 

Feb. 1. ... I got Oliver, Knapp and Smith in my office and 
explained my idea or scheme of making war plans on moving 
picture basis. 

Feb. 2nd. . . . Hobson and Isham putting pressure on me to 
hurry up Isham test. I pointed out difficulties, etc. In House, 
practically all the new legislation on App. Bill stricken out on 
point of order. Plucking Board however, is abolished ! Meet- 
ing G. B. I explained my ideas about getting up war plans, but 
did not dwell on photographic features of my scheme. I ex- 
plained all of it however to Madison. 

Feb. 3. . . . Submarine attack on merchant ships making 
big scare in England. My report as to A. P. Shell and Isham 
Shell is now printed in A. M, papers. Meeting G. B. I pro- 
pound my solution (that is, I do in part) of the problem of 
getting up war plans, using analogy of chess games. 

Feb. 4. . , . Meeting G. B. I elaborated my scheme for mak- 
ing war plans, and showed how (if we make them carefully and 
logically by well played out games) we can decide better by 
far than any one else, how many ships, men and units of all 
kinds the navy needs, in order to defend our coast, in war, 
both defensively and offensively: in other words, how we can 
ascertain and explain what is (for us) an "adequate Navy." 

Feb. 5. Meeting G. B. Discussed war plans. Situation more 
threatening as to German subms. attack on merchant ships, espe- 
cially attack on neutral merchant ships. 

Feb. 6. Meeting G. B. We agreed that all navy, including 
ships in ordinary and reserve, must be ready in 14 days (as a 
maximum) after declaration of war. Army and Navy Register 
says Prest. is much provoked at certain officers of A & N who have 
been talking and writing in opposition to Admin, policy, and that 
Sec. Nav. has told at lea,st one officer that he is provoked with 
him and that Sec. feels he is not being supported loyally by 
other officers. 

Feb. 8. . . . Meeting G. B. We have been holding daily 
meetings and discussing war plans. Sec. said in p. m. that Ch. 
Bu. Ord. was the only man who had helped him (Sec.) to get 
mines and mining established ! ! I got a file of the papers in 
the case, and showed him that I had started the thing in 
May, 1913, and that, after the procedure had been determined 
on, had sent the papers to Material Mar. 31, 1914. 

Feb. 9. — Meeting G. B. Discussed war plan, war with 



574 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

"Black" — I am trying to evolve scheme of plans in which 
each war plan will consist of a number of "games," which in 
turn consist of certain "moves" by each side. Of course, 
mobilization must be a preliminary step — followed by the first 
move. . . . Lt. Com. Gotten, just returned from position of naval 
attache, came into my office and told me about attitude of 
Japan. . . . Callan 'Lachlan, just returned from trip in Jason, 
giving presents in Europe, came in and told me lots about 
German naval things. 

Feb. 10 — Meeting G. B. Discussed War Plans. . . . Lt. Com. 
Gotten, recently naval attache in Japan, came to my office and 
gave me interesting facts about Japs. 

Feb. 11. Two years ago today, I became Aid for Operations ! 
Lt. Com. Gotten came in and talked to me about various things 
in Japan. I asked him a great deal about Gen. Staff in Jap. 
Navy and he spoke very interestingly and intelligently about it, 
and I asked him to go into See's, office, and tell him about it. 
Gotten told me that in Jap. the Adm. who is Gh. of Staff, is 
more highly regarded than the Sec. Nav. who is also a Naval 
Officer, and usually is of higher rank than See. Nav. (Minister 
of Marine) because his work is more important and difficult 
from national point of view than Sec. Nav's, which is largely 
political. 

My entries under date of February 12 are taken up 
with a discussion of the German naval situation. One 
sentence is, ''The significant part of this to me is that if 
war result, the strategic advantage will be to Germany, 
since (in order to interfere with Germany's action) U. 
S. will have to send ships near to Germany." 

Feb. 15th — Anniversary of our wedding. Had Japanese Am- 
bassador and his wife and other guests at dinner. German sit- 
uation getting rather serious. 

Feb. 16th— Meeting G. B. Discussed War Plans with Black. 
. . . Farewell dinner given by Gapt. Takeuchi, I. J. N. in honor 
Admiral Dewa. I respond to the only toast, as Senior Adm. 
present. 

Feb. 17th. . . . Dinner at Japanese Embassy. I take in Mrs. 
Daniels, and wife is taken in to dinner by Admiral Dewa, I. J. N. 

Beautiful Dinner. Ash Wednesday! 



WAR GAME 575 

Feb. 18. Meeting G. B. European situation worse — also 
Jap. situation. Also Mexican. Adm. Dewa gave a splendid 
banquet at Shoreham Hotel, 68 guests. I sat between Sec. War 
and 3rd Ass. Sec. State. Sec. State sat next host — and after 
host made little speech, Sec. State — with great bad taste — re- 
plied. His speech was foolish, but pleasant because delivered in 
a very, very pleasant way ; but he should have let a naval officer 
make the reply. 

Feb. 19 — Meeting G. B. War Plans. Sec. called into con- 
sultation Blue, the Ch. Const. Taylor — and the Judge Advocate 
General to help him draft a letter to Sen. Nav. Committee, ask- 
ing them to change House Committee's recommend, as to Ch. 
Nav. Operations. The draft decided on emasculated the provi- 
sion considerably, but included the legalization of a Ch. of Nav. 
Operations. 

Feb. 20, Situation everywhere worse as to war. The prize 
essay of Lt. Com. Knox about Doctrine has been sent to all the 
members Nav. Committees of House and Senate. At annual 
meeting of the American Society of Naval Engineers, I made 
the speech — first speech of evening — in reply to the toast — 
"The Navy." 

Feb. 22nd — Washington 's Birthday. I had a very heated and 
disagreeable talk with Sec. lasting an hour and a quarter, . . . 
Conversation drifted to Knight's lecture and my testimony and 
Sec. showed great heat in denouncing both. In p. m. Ad. Dewey 
took me to drive and I poured my sad tale into his sympathetic 
ear. 

Feb. 24 — Meeting G. B. War Plans. N. Y. World has sensa- 
tional suggestion for sham attack on N. Y. by Atlantic Fleet, 
using all the ships in the Atlantic — 125 in all ! ! To attempt this 
would be to expose our unpreparedness, especially in personnel. 
Talk with Asst. Sec. in p. m. about what we could — and would 
have to do — in Dept. to get ready for war. Sec. seems very sure 
nothing is needed and that everything is ready ! ! ! 

Feb. 25, Senate agreed to "Ch. Nav. Op." in the emasculated 
form passed by the Senate Committee. 

Feb. 26. Sent description of my horizometer, with under- 
lying scientific explanation, to Geo. N. Saegmuller, Vice Brest, 
of Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. — in accord, with his oral sug- 
gestion two days ago — so the Company can prepare application 
for patent." 



576 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

During the preceding three years I had been carrying 
on systematic experiments with my horizometer, and had 
succeeded in improving it greatly. The trouble I found 
was that the demands of modern naval gunnery increased 
as rapidly as my improvements did, so that by the time 
I got a new instrument ready for test, it was obsolete. 

Mr. Saegmuller had had great experience in making 
fire-control instruments for the navy, and he thought 
that with the resources of the great Bausch & Lomb Opti- 
cal Company in Rochester he could make it a practical 
success. 

Mar. 1. The conferees of Senate and House came to an agree- 
ment. In the matter of Ch. Nav. Op. agreement was on basis 
proposed by Sen. Committee. 

Mar. 4. Congress has adjourned at last. Big Naval Ap- 
propriation — biggest yet — all due of course to probability of 
war, and possibly just a little to my testimony as to our unpre- 
paredness and the favorable comments on it by the public 
press. 

Mar. 5. Meeting 1st and 2nd Committee G. Bd. in my office 
to discuss war game. We conclude best to refer matter to G. B. 
for final recommendation — Sec. agrees informally. I told 
Dewey my idea and he agreed with much pleasure. I told this 
to Sec. and he agreed with pleasure too ! 

Mar. 6. . . . Callan O'Lachlan called and said he was going 
to try to induce Sec. to make me Ch. Nav. Op. He called* me 
up by 'phone at 7 P. M. and said Sec. was very non-committal. 

Mar. 7. Sunday. I met Sec. by appointment in his office at 
10 :30. , . . Then the conversation drifted to our fleet, war col- 
lege, Dept — especially their mutual relations. I gave Sec. an 
historical account of the endeavor that has been going on for 20 
years to get unity of effort in Dept. and Navy; told him about 
Luce, Mahan, and Taylor, and the reforms Taylor began — 
which were ended by his death in summer 1904 — and showed him 
that since then nearly all his work had been halted, and that 6 
men had been Ch. Bu. Nav; 6 C. in C. and 6 Prest. War Col- 
lege; — 18 men all pulling at loose ends, each man "playing 
his own tune," etc., etc. He seemed very much impressed in- 
deed. 



WAR GAME 577 

March 8. Meeting G. B. in forenoon. Discussed war game 
for May. G. B. not very enthusiastic about their making war 
game plans, Badger holding that was province of Commander 
in Chief. I explained that the modern and foreign method is 
for Gen. Staff to make war plans, and thus get a consecutive 
policy, instead of letting each C in C make hasty war game plans, 
according to his fancy. I made no impression on Badger, un- 
til I told how the Sec. and Dewey had come to my way of 
thinking, and then he gave in. G. B. then all agreed. Callan 
O'Lachlan called and said he had called on Dewey day before, 
and that both Dewey and his wife had spoken of me in the most 
enthusiastic way, but that Dewey said he was sure Sec. had 
made up his mind. O'Lachlan had intended to get views of 
rear admirals in town, but Dewey's attitude induced him to give 
up idea. 

March 9. Meeting G. B. . . . Dewey told me he thought 
Sec. had made up his mind to make Fletcher Ch. Nav. Op. and 
Winslow C in C, etc., etc. 

Mar. 10. Meeting G. B. Badger absent. Discussed war 
game with fleet in May next. I hfad considerable trouble in get- 
ting Bd. to agree to my scheme of making the game show what 
would really happen if a hostile fleet should start for our eastern 
coast. In fact, I had to surrender part of my scheme, and con- 
sent to the idea that the hostile force should be much less than 
what Germany would really send, the Bd. holding that, if the 
hostile force supposed in the war game should be so large, it 
would not be a game at all, but a one sided slaughter. 

My entries for the next few days concern the projected 
war game in May and the threatening situation in regard 
to Mexico and Germany. Realizing that I should not 
probably stay in the department much longer, as I knew 
the secretary would probably soon decide as to the chief 
of naval operations, I was intensely anxious to have this 
war game settled before I left. It was an absolutely new 
departure for our Navy Department to make plans for 
strategic games for the fleet, and I was afraid that the 
scheme might fall through unless I got all the details set- 
tled before I left. 

My entries of March 15 and 16 show that the Assistant 



578 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Secretary and I, together with the General Board, de- 
cided on a certain scheme for the war game in May 
which would represent facts as they would probably be in 
case of an attack on our coast. 

March 17 — Sec. said he does not want to have any war game 
in May, which will include any defeat of the U. S. Fleet! So 
all our plans to make the game educational to the people have 
failed — or will fail ! Sec, made a speech at launching of Penna. 
yesterday, in which he declared that U. S. Navy had never been 
so efficient as it is now. 

During all the time that I had been aid for operations 
I had been endeavoring to bring about a procedure 
whereby each bureau should make quarterly reports to 
the Navy Department as to its exact state of prepared- 
ness for war, including what had been done and what re- 
mained to be done. This idea was not original with me, 
for I had inherited that idea from my predecessor, Ad- 
miral Vreeland, who had inherited it from Admiral 
Wainwright. As there was considerable labor involved 
in the work, and as the matter was not very urgent, Wain- 
wright and Vreeland had never finished the scheme, or 
secured the signature of the Secretary to it. But shortly 
after I became aid for operations the possibility of war 
with Japan brought the necessity for such a scheme 
sharply to my attention. During all the two years that 
had elapsed since then I had kept the war plan committee 
of the General Board at work on the details of the plan, 
so that they kept it up to date, and I had urged the Secre- 
tary several times to sign it and let me get the procedure 
into operation. I explained to him that until the ad- 
ministrative section of the general war plan, which we 
usually called the "administrative plan" had been ap- 
proved and signed hy him, the Navy Department could 
not to he regarded as an efficient organization; and that if 
war broke out, we should he caught absolutely unpre- 
pared, that we could not even begin to prepare until after 
that paper had been signed. On each occasion, also, I 



ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN 579 

told him that I thought there was great probability of our 
getting into the present war. 

Mar. 18. I took to Sec. and explained to him carefully the 
new Administrative Section of the General War Plan, prepared 
by G. B. with accompanying letter, signed by Adm. Dewey. 
He demurred a good deal in a general way, and finally declared 
he did not wish to take any action in the matter for the pres- 
ent ! ! I then discussed with him two papers, prepared by my- 
self, one called "Meditations on Organization" and the other 
''Meditations on Mobilization." He made little comment, but 
simply returned them to me. 

Mar. 24. Mr. Lansing agrees with me absolutely as to the 
Prince Eitel Frederick. I am much relieved. It is very curious 
how we always agree. 

Ever since my testimony of December 17, 1914, my posi- 
tion had become increasingly difficult. The General 
Board and the officers of the navy backed me in all I was 
doing, but the assistance they gave was purely moral and 
spiritual. I mean that they could not make any repre- 
sentations to the Secretary or bring any influence to bear 
upon him. There were three aids at the time ; but as the 
aid for education did not really count, there were only 
two real aids, the aid for material and I, and I was told 
by many people that the aid for material was not aiding 
me, but actually working against me. The chief of 
the Bureau of Navigation was evidently much more in 
the Secretary's confidence than I was. I had thought 
it possible that the Secretary might make me the chief 
of naval operations, though I would have been willing 
at any time to bet ten to one that he would not. I knew 
that I was very deficient in naval strategy; but I also 
knew that I came nearer to being efficient in it than 
anybody else, with the exception of Admiral Dewey and 
Admiral Wainwright, who were both of course unavail- 
able for the office. I realized also the grim humor of 
the fact that even my partial understanding of naval 
strategy was the main cause of my difficulties. 



580 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

About this time it occurred to me tliat when I gave up 
my position it might be a good plan for me to take up 
either the development of aeronautics or the develop- 
ment of my old scheme of an experimental department, 
which I had suggested in my essay ''The Naval Pro- 
fession" in 1907, and in my essay "Naval Power" in 
1911. On one occasion at target-practice, when I had 
command of the third division in the fleet, I had talked 
about this plan to Mr. Miller Reese Hutchinson, who was 
Edison's right-hand man, and had got him to promise to 
endeavor to secure Mr. Edison's cooperation in case I 
should ever get the plan established. On the occasion 
of the birthday lunch-party given to Mr. Edison in New 
York when I had the first division, I broached the sub- 
ject to him and tried to induce him to go on board the 
Florida. He demurred to this, but we made a half-way 
arrangement that I should go down to Orange and talk 
with him about my scheme. Captain Knapp and I enter- 
tained his daughter at lunch on two occasions aboard the 
Florida and enlisted her cooperation also. On many 
occasions I had told the Secretary of the difficulties that 
inventors had with the department, and had easily got 
him to agree that it would be highly desirable to have 
such a plan adopted as I had outlined. My idea was to 
have a board of which naval officers and civilians should 
be members, who should be selected for their peculiar 
qualifications, the head of it to be a naval officer, in order 
that the efforts of the civilian inventors might be directed 
along lines that would be strategically advantageous, and 
fit in with naval necessities. 

March 24. ... I suggested to Sec. that I be given job of 
handling new inventions of all kinds, suggested to navy — telling 
him this idea was old with me, and that many people for 15 
or 20 years had said navy ought to give me exclusive duty as 
inventor to Department. Sec. seemed much impressed, and 
said to speak again to him about it. 

March 25th. I reminded Sec. of our talk yesterday, told him I 
was in earnest, and that I did not like my present job, etc. 



MY EESIGNATION 581 

Sec. answered he had been thinking about it, and thought it 
would be well to make me head of a board, go to Europe for a 
few months, etc. I mentioned to wife and daughter. Former 
is enthusiastic, and wants to go to Europe with me. 

Mar. 31. I saw letter from U.S.S. Wyoming, approved by 
C in C of fleet, saying tests of my Horizometer, made under 
various kinds of weather and conditions, show more consistent 
results than the range finders show, and asking permission to 
keep the Horizometer until after target-practice in May. 

The conditions under which I was living were becom- 
ing daily more irritating. I realized that a crisis was 
going to come soon, but I was continually urged by of- 
ficers, including Admiral Dewey, to hang on as long as I 
could stand it. The break came on April 1 ; but, as often 
happens, the final straw was a trivial matter. 

April 1st. Found three things were being done by Dept. in 
work of Division of Operations, without my knowledge. So, I 
went into See's room in p. m. and asked him to accept my 
resignation as Aid for Operations, saying Sec. had treated me 
with great injustice for three months, that I had served him 
faithfully for more than two years, that in every single case 
in which he had followed my advice, the event had proved me 
right, etc., etc. He asked me when my resignation would 
take effect, and I replied as soon as convenient to him. He re- 
plied that he would arrange it ! I told Cronan and Knapp con- 
fidentially. 

April 2nd. Sec. Nav. as suave and polite this A. M. as usual. 
I showed him my ' ' record ' ' as rear admiral, that is my ' * reports 
of fitness" from President Gen. Bd, Commander in Chief At- 
lantic fleet, also the report on me for "Eminent and Conspicu- 
ous Conduct in Battle" at Manila Bay; he seemed considerably 
impressed by the excellence of my reports. Confirmed my resig- 
nation in writing, giving no reason. 

In the latter part of the afternoon I received informa- 
tion that the secretary had given out a notice to the 
Herald to the effect that he was considering the idea 
of appointing Admiral Winslow as chief of naval opera- 
tions. As I had given in my resignation to him confi- 



582 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

dentially, I was surprised that the Secretary should give 
out this statement without my knowledge. I realized 
immediately that I had to act at once or be put in a very 
mortifying position. As it was about ten minutes before 
the close of office hours, and the clerks were about to go 
home, I had just time in which to write a very brief let- 
ter. This was unfortunate; because with a little more 
time I should have been able to set forth my reasons and 
to make them a matter of record in the department. A 
statement of these reasons would have been simply that 
I had not been able to induce the Secretary to take the 
necessary steps to prepare the navy for war, and that my 
efforts had ended in my being ignored in even minor mat- 
ters. Only two weeks before I had again taken the ad- 
ministrative plan to him, and he had again declined to 
sign it, though I had explained again that preparedness 
could not begin until he had approved and signed it. 

As I was no longer bound to secrecy, I told a few 
friends that I had resigned. They all expressed great 
regret, but said that they were surprised that I had held 
on for so long a time as I had, and that my act would be 
recognized as one of self-sacrifice, and do great good to 
the navy. 

The news quickly spread, and I received many tele- 
phone messages from friends and from newspapers about 
dinner time. So Mrs. Fiske and I went to the theater; 
but I found three reporters waiting for me when we 
reached home. I told them I had nothing to say. Some 
officers have told me since that this was a mistake, and 
that I should have declared the reason, because this would 
have caused an investigation. 

For about five days the leading newspapers in the 
country contained articles, editorials, and cartoons re- 
lating to my resignation. They all seemed to take my 
side, but not to treat the matter as one of importance 
except as a sensation news, in the same class with a di- 
vorce scandal or railway accident. If an officer in any 
other army or navy who occupied an analogous position 



ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN 583 

had resigned that position in similar circumstances, the 
country would have demanded an inv.estiga4;ion instantly 
and that either the officer or his chief be punished. In 
Great Britain even a rumored disagreement between the 
First Lord of the Admiralty and the First Sea Lord 
creates alarm throughout the empire, because a disagree- 
ment on an important point would be a national peril. 
But in the United States the matter was treated lightly. 
I had testified only three months and a half before that 
the navy was unprepared and that it would take it at least 
five years to get prepared, and in so doing I had taken 
an attitude directly the reverse of that taken by the Sec- 
retary of the Navy. The newspapers all stated that I 
resigned because the Secretary would not institute the 
measures which I urged; and yet, when I resigned, the 
matter was a seven days' wonder and then forgotten, 
though the question involved the safety of the nation. 
The Secretary directed me to continue my duties for the 
present. 

To return to my diary. 

Apr. 16. ... I took to Sec. the Administrative Section of 
the Gen. Bd's War Plan and pointed out that until he ap- 
proved it, the Dept. had no war plan; because although Gen- 
eral Board had plans, they all depended on the Department and 
the bureaus being ready, and they could not even begin to get 
ready until he approved the G. B.'s Ad. Plan, whereby the 
Bureaus and offices reported to Dept. every quarter their exact 
state of readiness. — I fully expected that — after our talk yes- 
terday, — he would sign the G. B.'s paper at once! To my 
amazement, he said he would talk to me about it next week! 
The same thing occurred about 3 or 4 weeks ago. The recom- 
mending letter was signed by Dewey Mar. 13, 1915 — and is 
similar to letter 2 years ago, that also was not acted on I 

Apr. 19. Fletcher and Winslow at Dept. N. Y. Times says 
Winslow is to be appointed Ch. Nav. Op. Both had long con- 
ference with Sec. I do not know what Winslow said; but 
Fletcher tells me that he (Fletcher) urged Sec. in most em- 
phatic language to appoint me, for reasons both professional 
and political. Providence Journal Apr. 14, contained letter 



584 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIEAL 

from fleet, Hampton Roads, signed "David Barry" who has 
two sons in fleet — saying all the officers and men of the fleet 
want Fiske Ch. Nav. Op. Roosevelt and I agree that opinion 
of all is that Fiske ought to be Ch. .Nav. Op. with Howard next 
choice. 

Apr. 23. I gave Sec. for signature the various orders for 
carrying out the War Game next month, and explained that he 
was starting a ' ' strategical policy, ' ' and that his action was the 
most important, radical, and progressive action he had taken 
in all his two years of office. He seemed impressed, and asked me 
to prepare a "press notice," expounding my idea. I did so 
and made the statement for the press very emphatic. He gave 
out the press notice, just as I wrote it. I think this marks an 
epoch and is one of the most important things I have ever ac- 
complished. It has taken me nearly two years to bring it to 
pass. 

Apr. 24. N. Y. Herald has first column and a half on first 
page devoted to "General Board will Make Plans for Fleet 
Drills, ' ' and has long and appreciative account of the new policy. 
I had long talk with Dewey, and he said he thought Sec. was 
"coming round," that he had told Fletcher to tell Sec. he ought 
to make me Ch. Nav. Op. and that he thought Sec. would do it. 
. . . Got Sec. to order that the May War Game would be called 
"Department Strategic Problem No. 1." 

Apr. 28. The Sec. informed me this afternoon that Captain 
Benson, Commandant of Phil. Navy Yard is to be Ch. Nav. Op. 
He gave out this news to the press this afternoon. Adm. Knight 
and Capt. Roy Smith both expressed to me their surprise and 
disapproval of See's selection. I do not think the NaA^ will 
like it. Fletcher told me the other day that Sec. had asked 
him about Benson, and Fletcher strongly urged that Benson 
had not the necessary knowledge or experience or ability, and 
was in exactly the position now he is fitted for. 

I was surprised at the secretary's selection of Cap- 
tain Benson. I had been perfectly sure that he would 
not appoint me, but I thought he would appoint some 
officer who had shown a bent toward strategy, I liked 
Captain Benson very well and admired him in many 
ways. He and I had been shipmates on board the Ten- 
nessee for about a year, when we had occupied the mutu- 



SELECTION OF CAPTAIN BENSON 585 

ally difficult positions of captain of the ship and chief of 
staff to the commander-in-chief. Benson was a hand- 
some, dignified gentleman of thoroughly correct habits, 
very religious and conscientious, and an excellent sea- 
man ; but I had never heard that he had ever shown the 
slightest interest in strategy or been on the General 
Board, or even taken the summer course at the war 
college. When I was in command of the first division, 
Benson was in command of the Utah, and I wrote on his 
efficiency report every six months that he would make an 
excellent superintendent of the Naval Academy. I knew 
that Benson desired to have that detail at the end of his 
cruise, and I thought he would be admirably fitted for it. 
He had been on duty at the Naval Academy for several 
tours, so that he was fitted for the position of superin- 
tendent not only by his ability in matters of detail, but by 
long experience at the Naval Academy itself. But the 
position for which he was now selected was the most im- 
portant one in the navy, with requirements so great that 
no officer in the navy was really competent to discharge 
them skilfully. For the position the first requirement 
was a clear apprehension of strategy and a fine mind. 
Benson, so far as I knew, had devoted no attention what- 
ever to strategy, and his mind, while good and sound, 
was such that he had never been reckoned one of the 
'' bright men" of the navy. It seemed strange to me 
that Benson should have been selected when there were 
men like Howard, Knight, Knapp, Hood, and Oliver 
available. 

May 10. Getting mj office ready to turn over to Benson. 
Corrected and signed final copy of letter to Sec. recommending 
that, in carrying out the War Game the latter half of this 
month, the Dept. be put also into the game, go on a war footing 
temporarily, G. B. keep track of game night and day, and bureaus 
issue orders, etc., etc. Sec. was in Philadelphia, so I did not 
hand it to him. 

May 11. Benson came in and I turned over to him about 
11 a. m. About 10.30 Sec. sent for Benson and said he wished 



586 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

him to attend meeting G. B. that morning. Capt. Volney Chase 
reported as Asst. to Chief Nav. Op! I never had an asst! I 
handed Sec. my letter of yesterday, and said goodbye in pres- 
ence of Congressman Fitzgerald. I said, "I wish to say that I 
have never been treated with more courtesy by anybody than by 
you, and that, from my point of view, our differences have been 
wholly professional." Sec. seemed considerably flabbergasted, 
and stammered out that he entertained a high regard for me. 
Then I shook hands with Mr. Fitzgerald and him and departed. 

I think that the six weeks which intervened between 
the day of my resignation and the day when Benson re- 
lieved me was the happiest period of my life. Through- 
out the two years previous to my resignation the situa- 
tion had been most unpleasant. I liked the secretary 
personally, but I always looked forward with annoyance 
to reaching my office, and having to keep up day after day 
my continuous insistence on the recognition of elementary 
principles. It was very wearing to retain that respect- 
ful speech and manner toward the Secretary which was 
becoming in an officer of the navy, and at the same time 
never to yield. The temptation to yield was very great 
sometimes ; in fact, it often occurred to me that perhaps 
I was doing wrong, and that it was my duty to do as the 
Secretary wished. 

I had to carry on this fight alone, although the officers 
of the navy as a class supported me. I think that the 
strongest support that I got was that given by my 
memory of the socialist, Camille Pelletan, who had been 
minister of marine of the French Navy, and who in four 
years did it such damage that somebody remarked that 
if the French Government had given Pelletan a salary of 
a million dollars a year, and had kept him away from the 
navy, the Government would have made $100,000,000 by 
the operation. 

I do not know whether Camille Pelletan was sincere or 
not. I have heard from many sources that he was a very 
amiable man, and that he was very popular with many 
people in France. The people liked his ** democratic 



WAR GAME 587 

manner" and sympathized with his attitude in trying to 
democratize the French Navy; but I doubt if even the 
people who liked him most would have liked him at all if 
they had realized that he was ruining the navy, which was 
the left arm of the defense of the republic, and which 
they were taxed heavily to maintain. Instead of being 
a friend of the people, as so many French people thought, 
Camille Pelletan by his course was more dangerous to 
them tha/fi all the German spies in France put together. 
Camille Pelletan' s course did more to break down the de- 
fense of the French Republic than a half a million Ger- 
man troops could have done. 

It seemed to me that I was in a position in which it 
might be possible for me to permit as great an injury to 
the United States Navy as the French Navy had suf- 
fered. Possibly I overestimated the importance of my 
position; but as I often told Mr. Daniels, I was the 
only man to impress him with the military side of the 
navy question, whereas there were ninety million peo- 
ple to impress him with its other sides; and it seemed 
to me that his attitude toward the navy, especially in the 
earlier days of his administration, threatened the very 
foundations of the national defense. Principles which I 
had been taught at the Naval Academy, and the truth of 
which I had seen proved in all my later experience and in 
all my reading of history and strategy, seemed to be 
held of little or no account. 

As I walked out of the shady corridors of the Depart- 
ment Building into the bright sunshine of the town, I said 
to myself that I thought I had been able to prevent any 
very great lowering of the efficiency of the navy, and that 
I had had the great privilege of being able to do five 
things which would be of permanent benefit to it. These 
were: 

1. Establishing the Division of Aeronautics. 

2. Instituting strategic war problems for the fleet. 

3. Proving that the country trusts army and navy of- 
ficers more than it trusts any one else. 



588 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

4. Making Congress realize the needs of the navy more 
clearly than it had ever done before. 

5. Establishing the office of chief of naval operations. 
Besides these, there were three other undertakings 

which I had not yet brought to a successful issue, but 
which I felt sure were in such a state that it was only a 
matter of a short time before they, also, would be accom- 
plished facts. These were: 

1. The establishment of some agency under the depart- 
ment for recognizing and developing new inventions. 
This was accomplished in the following summer by the 
establishment of the Naval Consulting Board, with Mr. 
Edison at the head. This differed from my plan mainly 
in being composed of civilians exclusively. My idea has 
been to have a naval officer with inventive ability to be 
the head, in order to steer the efforts of the civilians 
along the most advantageous lines. 

2. The recognition of the possibilities of the diving- 
shell. 

3. The putting into effect of the administrative section 
of the general war plan. Much more than any other one 
thing, the refusal of the secretary to sign this plan was 
the cause of the differences between him and me. Let 
any one imagine himself in my position, and realize how 
I must have felt in knowing that the department pos- 
sessed no means of knowing its degree of readiness for 
war, and that it could not know it until a certain paper 
had been signed, and until the methods which that paper 
provided for had been in operation for a considerable 
time. 

The administrative plan was signed shortly after I 
gave up my position to my successor. That plan and the 
office of chief of naval operations are the means by which 
the Navy Department got ready for war, and by means 
of which it operated during the war and has operated 
since. 

The virtues of these two schemes were realized imme- 
diately after they were put into operation. This is 



FINAL SUCCESS OF CERTAIN MEASURES 589 

proved by the following extracts, taken from page seven 
of the official report of the Secretary, made in the follow- 
ing December, 1915 : 

OPERATIONS 

Better Organization Effected 

Upon my recommendation the naval appropriation act of 1914 
provided that "there shall be a Chief of Naval Operations . . . 
who shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, be 
charged with the operations of the fleet and with the preparation 
and readiness of plans for its nse in war. "... A well thought- 
out plan, prepared by the General Board, for the preparation 
of the fleet for war in the Atlantic, has been approved and each 
office and bureau under the department has been assigned its 
proper share in the general scheme of preparedness. By refer- 
ence to periodic reports the department may at any time be- 
come informed of defects, of efforts made to overcome them, and 
of the progress made toward a complete state of readiness. 

It was mainly (almost wholly) because I urged the two 
measures which the Secretary describes and praises that 
I had to resign my position as aid for operations. 

I was surprised that the Secretary should state that 
the provision for a chief of naval operations was made 
upon his recommendation. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 

**THE MASTERY OF THE WORLD," NAVAL, PREPAREDNESS 
AND MY REPRIMAND 

I REMAINED in Washington until the end of June, 
carrying out tests of the Isham diving-shell. The 
only instance of particular interest to myself was a 
speech that I made at the annual dinner of the Naval 
Academy Graduates' Association on June 4 in reply to 
the toast, ''The Navy." 

This speech made a great impression on my memory 
from the curious fact that it was given before a large 
group of naval officers in the presence of the Secretary, 
and yet expressed ideas of which I knew he disapproved. 
I have heard since that some criticized my speech as be- 
ing in very bad taste at a social dinner when the Secre- 
tary was a guest ; but the great body of naval officers ap- 
proved it very highly. The speech was telegraphed en- 
tire all over the country by the Associated Press, and it 
appeared more or less fully in all the papers the next 
morning. On the following day there were many edi- 
torials. All those that I saw were exceedingly favor- 
able. 

One phase of this speech has a curious psychological 
interest to me, and that is, although I have always been 
an intensely nervous man, and though I knew my speech 
might subject me to severe punishment, yet I felt not the 
slightest nervousness about it. The human animal is a 
curious thing. 

On June 28, I received orders to obey my previous or- 
ders and go to the war college. I did not want to go to 
the war college at all. One reason was that I had en- 
gaged an apartment at Stoneleigh Court, in Washington, 

590 



''THE MASTERY OF THE WORLD" 591 

until October, and another reason was that I would be 
virtually in *'cold storage," as some of my friends ex- 
pressed it. But my principal reason was that my wife's 
health seemed to have been failing within the last year, 
and I was beginning to be very uneasy about her. 

July 1. Reported at War College. Received many letters 
of congratulation on my speech and my general "stand," that 
had been long awaiting me. 

July 5. N. Y. Sun states Lord John Fisher, R.N., former 
1st Sea Lord is made Prest. of a Board to consider inventions for 
naval use! Sec. Nav. has lost another opportunity to make a 
ten strike by establishing the Board of Invention and Develop- 
ment, that I proposed to him. 

July 6, 7, 8, 9. Getting into touch with War College, at- 
tending lectures, etc. Working up scheme for bomb adapted 
to be dropped from air craft on vessels & to explode if it strikes, 
& also if it misses after sinking — say 10 feet — by action of 
hydrostatic piston, or contact. 

This was, of course, a design of what has since been 
called the ''depth bomb." I worked out a good detailed 
design, but I never really had the bomb made, as my at- 
tention became attracted to other matters. I have been 
told that I have been credited by some with the invention 
of the depth-bomb. This is a mistake. 

July 12. . , . Received Naval Institute's announcement of 
election for officers next October 10, in which I am the only 
candidate for Prest! And the announcement states that 
"Adms. Fletcher & Knight & Captain H. S. Knapp were all 
asked to stand for election ; but each one declined to run against 
Rear Admiral Fiske." 

July 13. Sec. Nav. has decided to establish the "Board of 
Invention and Development." Edison and others have agreed 
to serve as advisers, & the papers comment on the idea most 
favorably. This is the pet scheme I have had for years, & 
which Sec. Nav. agreed some time ago to make me chief of. But 
I do not suppose he will give it to me now. Some papers say 
that Fiske, Strauss & Taylor are mentioned for the position. 

July 14. Adm. Knight told me this morning that, in his 



592 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

opinion, I have not the slightest chance of getting made Chief 
Board Inv. & Development, because Sec. Nav. feels "very vin- 
dictively indeed" toward me. Sorry, but I can't help it. , . . 
Canal (Panama) has another slide, so I was right about folly 
of sending fleet through — while war is possible for us in the 
Atlantic. 

July 16. Sec. getting much praise for Invention idea. . . . 

July 17. Board of officers in Wyoming send in report on 
Horizometer that is favorable in main, but points out certain 
limitations & makes certain recommendations for changes. 

I had no duties at the war college. Knight naturally 
did not want me on the staff, realizing the incongruity of 
the situation that would be created if I were. He gave 
me a desk in the delightful library of the war college, 
from the windows of which I could see in three directions 
most beautiful and inspiring views of Narragansett Bay 
and its green-covered shores and islands. The library 
is an excellent one, and is especially complete in books 
that have been written on history, government, and the 
naval and military arts. Toward the latter part of my 
stay in Washington I had said to myself that perhaps I 
was theoretically wrong in the attitude I had taken, that 
possibly I was a ''militarist,'^ and that possibly it might 
be true that nations would soon abandon war, and there- 
fore would soon abandon armaments and navies, or at 
least restrict them by mutual agreement. 

So immediately on getting established in that delight- 
ful library I set to work to study up the subject with as 
open a mind as I could command. I have always felt 
more at home in a library than in any other place. 
Men of my name have been identified with books for 
many generations, and my earliest recollections are of 
lying on the floor in my father's library reading books. 

My recollection of the main points in history was 
fairly good, and history, of course, told me that wars 
had continually succeeded one another all through his- 
tory; that the most important things that had happened 
had been wars, and that the most important results 



''THE MASTERY OF THE WORLD" 593 

that had been brought about had been brought about 
by wars. But there were many people — one of whom 
was ex-President Taft — who, while not pacifists at all, 
held the idea that it was possible to form a league of 
nations to enforce peace, and that the nations of the 
league could be relied on to enforce it, and to remain 
at peace not only for forty-three years, as Germany 
had done, but for periods indefinitely long. It seemed 
to me that this was largely a matter of psychology, and 
so I spent a month studying psychology. Of course I 
could not get a very profound knowledge of psychology 
in a month, but my good grounding in mathematics and 
the physical sciences, and my long training as an ex- 
perimentalist, enabled me to get a pretty good grip on 
the elementary principles in that period. 

It seemed to me, after getting that grip, that psy- 
chology gave no ground whatever for supposing that 
large groups of human beings now were any different 
from what they always had been, or that they would 
act differently from the ways in which they had acted 
in the past, under similar conditions. In fact, it seemed 
to me that psychology proved absolutely the reverse. 

The result was that I wrote an article and gave it the 
name, *'The Mastery of the World," because the con- 
clusion I came to was that all history and psychology 
and the physical sciences agreed that, instead of there 
being less chance for war in the future, there was more 
chance, and that the probabilities were that some ''mon- 
ster of efficiency" would some day get control of the 
world, as Rome did nineteen centuries ago, and enforce 
peace in the same way that a strong municipal govern- 
ment enforces peace in a city. 

This article appeared in The North American Review, 
in October, 1915. I followed it in November by an article 
called "Naval Principles," in December by an article 
called "Naval Preparedness," in January by an article 
called "Naval Policy," and in February by an 
article called "Naval Defense." All these articles at- 



594 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tracted a great deal of attention from the newspapers, 
more than nine tenths of wliich was favorable. The last 
three articles were written under considerable mental 
excitement, because I -had become more and more con- 
vinced that we were going to get into the war, and more 
and more alarmed at our incredible delay. The articles 
were all devoted to showing the impossibility of pre- 
paring for a modern war except by following plans 
which had been carefully laid out in advance, because of 
the confusion that had always been inseparable from 
making preparations in a hurry. This was very easy 
to do, because it was merely necessary to point out the 
confusion in the first part of our Civil War and Span- 
ish War. 

My article on ''Naval Policy" ended, ''Shall the 
United States take action now or wait until it is too 
late? Is it already too late?" 

Sunday. Oct. 17. . . . On Oct. 16, I was re-elected President 
Naval Institute (5th time) this time unanimously. 

Oct. 21. Popular Science Monthly has two pages by Rear 
Admiral Fiske, being a quotation from my 1911 essay in Naval 
Institute called ' ' Naval Power, ' ' besides a full-page picture show- 
ing a battleship on wheels knocking down buildings in N. Y. 
The article is called "If Battleships ran on Land." 

The article in Popular Science Monthly, illustrated 
as it was by a very exciting and realistic picture, at- 
tracted a great deal of attention. It was copied in 
some English papers the following month. During the 
following year the British "tanks," or "land battle- 
ships," appeared. 

Nov. 19. Joined Aero Club of America, a highly patriotic, 
farseeing and beneficient organization. 

Dec. 25. ... I had a most unpleasant interview with Secre- 
tary yesterday. 

My interview with the Secretary was due to my call- 
ing on him with reference to a letter which I had re- 



MY REPRIMAND 595 

ceived from him in answer to an application for leave 
from me. It had been the custom in the navy for many 
years to grant an officer one month's leave per year if 
he could be spared, and in case leave is not taken, to let 
the leave accumulate up to three months. I had not 
had any leave for more than ten years, and so my ap- 
plication was perfectly proper, especially as I was go- 
ing to retire in less than six months, and was not doing 
any duty of any kind. In my application I had spoken 
of my wife's delicate health, and of the fact that as 
Newport was so cold, I would rather spend it with 
her farther South. The Secretary's answer to my ap- 
plication granted me three months' leave on the under- 
standing that I was to take my wife South! During 
my call I explained to him that my wife did not want to 
go farther South than Washington, and that I had not 
had any leave for over ten years. The Secretary finally 
said I might have leave for a month. As I turned to go, 
he said to me that his attention had been called to an 
article written by me in The North American Beview 
on ''Naval Preparedness," and that if I had not been 
an admiral, he would have me court-martialed. I ex- 
pressed surprise, and said that he himself had approved 
the article, and not only that, but two others. He re- 
plied that he thought they were to be published in the 
Naval Institute. I replied that I had not intended to 
publish them in the Naval Institute, and had not writ- 
ten or said anything to give that impression. I added 
that there was nothing in any of the articles that was 
not perfectly well known to naval officers and army 
officers, and that I was simply trying to make things 
clear to the people. He answered if the people wanted 
to know about the navy, they should go to the head of 
the navy for their information. I answered that I could 
not see where I had done wrong, and that certainly I 
was not opposing any plans for improving the navy 
that he might have, or the President. The Secretary 
cut short the interview here by saying, ''You cannot 



596 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

write or talk any more; you can't even say that two and 
two make four." 

This put me in a very embarrassing position, as I had 
already agreed to write articles for Collier's and The 
North American Review, and had accepted an invita- 
tion from the Commercial Club of Chicago to go out 
to Chicago and explain the present status of the navy. 
Of course I had explained to these organizations that I 
would have to get the approval of the secretary for 
whatever I should write or say ; but here was a flat order 
not to say or write anything. 

Jan. 1. — 1916. Saturday. I wrote full explanations to North 
Am. Review and Collier's that I would have to fail to fulfill my 
engagement to write articles; and I also wrote same to Com- 
mercial Club of Chicago, that had asked me to give address on 
facts on Jan. 15. I hear from them each that a fuss is going 
to be made. Comm. Club telegraphed expostulating to Prest; 
but he was away, and his Sec. referred matter to Sec. Nav. who 
up to Dec. 31st had not answered Club. N. Y. Sun asked me 
to write 300 words on naval matters for issue Jan. 1 ; and Marine 
League of U. S. A. asked me to make after dinner speech in 
Boston, some Tuesday ev. Chicago Trilune of Dec. 31 pub- 
lished interview with Sec. of Commercial Club about my being 
ordered not to make the speech — in which both Sec. of the Club 
and the paper commented adversely. 

Jan. 5 Sec. Nav. gave out yesterday fact of my being re- 
fused permission to speak before Chicago Commercial Club — 
and said all navy officers must merely back up civilian policy 
and not try to influence legislation. 

Jan. 6. Washington Post has fine editorial on "operating 
the Navy"— its text being my testimony last year. It urges 
Congress to act on it. 

Jan. 8. Most of the papers this morning have account of at- 
tack made by Repr. Fred A. Britten in House Naval Committee 
on Sec. 's muzzling Knight and me, and transferring Sterling and 
me . . . officers who testified honestly before the Naval Com- 
mittee, away from Washington. 

Jan. 11. Collier's of Jan. 15 that came out yesterday has 
editorial called "The Muzzle of Josephus" that condemns 




Ci.urtesy of Popular Science Monthly. 



LAND BATTLESHIP 



MY REPRIMAND 597 

roundly his course towards me. Chicago Tribune of Jan. 6 has 
long letter from its Wash, correspondent headed, "Country 
Denied Defense Facts," and it has on Jan. 9 an editorial headed, 
"Censoring Vital Knowledge" — both of which abuse Sec. Nav. 
roundly for muzzling me. 

Jan. 12. Sec. Daniels yesterday denied the statements in Col- 
lier's, and said he did not know I had written any articles for 
Collier's, and that he had said I might have the article in 
N. Am. Review published if he had already approved, etc. 
Also he gave out yesterday p. m. that he has given me 1 mo. 
leave with no restrictions. He did not say he had granted me 
3 mo. on condition that I go south and had withdrawn it when 
I said I did not want to go south. 

Jan. 16. Sunday. Visit from F. P. Dunne (Mr. Dooley) of 
Collier's on Thursday & Friday. Visit from Henry Reuterdahl 
the marine artist on Friday and luncheon with us Saturday. 
Arranging with Dunne to get Sec. to let me proceed with 
articles. . . , Two letters from Theodore Roosevelt, written on 
Jan. 11 — one typewritten — the other with his own hand — highly 
commending my articles that came out in North American Re- 
view & asking me to luncheon at Sagamore Hill on Feb. 3. I 
accepted. 

The articles which Collier's asked me to write were 
to be merely descriptive of the navy, for the purpose 
of interesting the public, and were to be referred to 
the Secretary for his approval before being published. 
We did not get permission to publish them. 

Jan. 18. . . . told me this p. m. that Sec. had finally signed 
the ' ' Administrative Plan, ' ' that I tried for two years to get him 
to sign, on May 18 last — 7 days after I had resigned ! ! ! ! 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

MY SECOND TESTIMONY AND THE SECKETAEY's ATTACK 

ON ME 



M 



Y diary says 



Feb. 8. Chief of Bureau Navigation, testified before House 
Naval Committee that fleet was fully manned, etc. Representa- 
tive Britten cross questioned him sharply about this & made 
him admit he has not been to sea for 5 years & had never 
served in a modern battleship. When questioned as to what 
Adm. Fiske meant when he testified Dec. 17, 1914, that it would 
take 5 years to get navy ready, he answered that perhaps he 
meant it would take him 5 years to do it. When asked what 
the navy thought of Fiske 's qualifications, he answered that he 
was considered a very good inventor ! Life has as outside pic- 
ture — a map of U. S. called ''New Prussia," with German 
names to the towns, etc. 

Feb. 11. Sec. Garrison has resigned! . . . 

Feb. 20. . . . Rec'd letter yesterday from Comdr. J. P. Mor- 
ton, comdg U. S. S. Scorpion at Constantinople saying that a 
British officer, belonging to the British fleet in the iEgean Sea 
had flown over the land into the Sea of Marmora in a large 
hydroaeroplane carrying a Whitehead torpedo, launched the 
torpedo at a Turkish transport and sunk it. This is my in- 
vention, patented July 16, 1912. Hurrah! I have invented a 
new method of warfare, and it is successful. 

Feb. 27. Sunday. Adm. Winslow testified before Committee 
& so did Badger. Badger was ultra-conservative & compli- 
mented Sec. for being first to publish report of G. B., etc. 
Winslow was very frank in backing me up, declaring for neces- 
sity of Gen, Staff, etc. 

Mar. 5. Sunday. Navy League has asked me to make the 
speech on a Navy General Staff at convention about Apr. 10 in 
Washington. I do not think Sec. will permit me to do it. A. & 

598 



MY SECOND TESTIMONY 599 

N. Journal says Adm, Benson says that plans made by office of 
Naval Operations will in a short time accomplish all that by 
human foresight it is possible to do by any system that could 
be designed, etc. 

March 13. The Secretary has finally given permission for me 
to publish Naval Strategy in the Naval Institute, but he has 
stricken out the last 5 pages, which were the conclusions to 
which the reasoning led ! ! 

Mar. 17. The Naval Institute accepted my article "Naval 
Strategy" the same day they received it & sent it to the printer 
with orders to print it at once, so as to publish it in the next 
Proceedings, the March-April number. 

Mar. 25. Appeared before House Naval Committee yester- 
day. Hearing lasted from 10.30 a. m. till close of hours (4.30) 
with intermission for lunch. Papers last night & this morning 
gave considerable space, but do not state the matter correctly. 
They exaggerate what I said about the necessity for military 
control of the navy & emphasize unduly the personal relations 
between the Secretary and me. ... I described how I had 
brought about the office of Ch. Nav. Op. & that Sec. had induced 
Gen. Bd. to strike out recommendation for 19,600 men. 

Mar. 27. Spent forenoon before House Naval Committee. 
The parts of my testimony that have attracted attention are that 
German navy is twice as effective as ours, that our present sys- 
tem causes loss of 25% in efficiency or money — the two being the 
same in the end — & that I resigned because I differed with See. 
Nav. as to preparedness. 

My testimony before the House Naval Committee on 
March 24 and March 26 brought out some interesting sit- 
uations. Shortly after the Congress passed the Naval 
Appropriation Bill on March 4 of the previous year, 
1915, which contained the provision for a chief of naval 
operations, but with certain important parts left out, I 
was informed by an influential member of the committee 
that there were a number of men on the committee who 
were in favor of a general staff, and that they would in- 
sist upon my being called before the committee in 1916. 
For this reason I had been preparing myself for the or- 
deal for more than a year. I knew that there were a 



600 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

number of the committee who would oppose my being 
called, and I was told that the secretary opposed it 
strongly. I was told shortly before I was finally called 
that the men on the committee who wished me to be 
called finally brought it about by accusing the other mem- 
bers of the committee of being afraid of having me 
called, because I would tell some unpleasant truths. 

During the two days when I was testifying I noticed 
a great deal of difference between the attitude of the 
members on this occasion and on the occasion when I had 
testified before, December 17, 1914. On the earlier oc- 
casion I had found an almost incredible ignorance on the 
part of nearly all the committee about vital questions 
which they, and they only, were to decide; but an almost 
incredible open-mindedness also. On the second occasion 
the members of the committee were somewhat better pre- 
pared in the matter of knowledge to discharge their highly 
responsible duties than they had been before, but they 
were not nearly so open-minded. I should not like to 
believe that they were influenced by politics, but it 
seemed to me that the Republicans approved of the ideas 
which I advanced and that the Democrats opposed them. 
I had always admired Mr. Padgett, the Chairman of the 
committee, and I had him at my house for dinner only a 
few nights before. On December 17, 1914, he had shown 
a perfectly open mind, but on the second occasion he 
seemed to be trying to 'Hrip me up" whenever he got a 
chance. He did not seem to be trying to bring out the 
real facts as to a general staff, but to be making a covert 
fight against it. 

The main point that I tried to bring out was the neces- 
sity for incorporating in the naval appropriation bill 
certain provisions relating to the detail of at least fif- 
teen assistants in the office of naval operations that 
had been left out of the previous appropriation bill 
after having been incorporated in it by the committee. 
Another matter which I emphasized almost as strongly 
was the necessity of paying much more attention to 



TESTIMONY AS TO AERONAUTICS 601 

aeronautics. I had noticed with dismay that nearly all 
the work which I had done in establishing a Division of 
Aeronautics and in developing naval aeronautics was not 
being pushed. 

In fact, it seemed to me that the Division of Aeronaut- 
ics, which I had got established with great difficulty, was 
virtually abolished, and that aeronautics was in danger 
of being starved to death by the inaction of the depart- 
ment. In the Secretary's annual report, dated December 
1, 1915, three months before, was the passage, "Two mil- 
lion dollars will be needed for the next year, and has been 
asked for in the estimates. ' ' 

For some curious reason little attention was paid to 
my testimony as to aeronautics, though aeronautics was 
obviously our one hopeful chance. In the record of my 
testimony is the passage : 

Mr. Britten. The recommendation of the General Board for 
$5,000,000 was cut to $2,000,000 by the Secretary. . . . Will you 
tell us please, if $5,000,000, in your opinion, is too much, and 
why? I will say to you, before you start to answer, that Capt. 
Bristol's estimate was over $7,000,000. 

Admiral Fiske. Yes, I remember that very well. His esti- 
mate was originally for $13,000,000, was it not? 

Mr. Britten. Yes. 

I then described the value of aeroplanes, and said 
"aeronautics is the thing on which we can get to work 
quicker, and by which we can accomplish more than by 
anything else." Finally: 

Mr. Britten. Admiral, you did not answer my question 
whether $5,000,000 was too much or not enough ? 
Admiral Fiske. It is not enough. 

The appropriation bill, when finally passed, allotted 
$3,500,000, for aeronautics. It also contained the re- 
placement of most of the original features in the provision 
establishing the office of chief of naval operations that I 
had urged. 



602 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 
My diary says : 

Apr. 3. Sec. testified today. Roasted me in the afternoon: 
said I was not in harmony with Department, & that he would 
have asked me to resign, if I had not done so. 

Apr. 4. The morning papers give considerable space to the 
See's attack on me. I held conference in forenoon & evening 
with Admirals Schroeder, Wainwright & Osterhaus at Schroed- 
er's house. We agreed best thing is for me to write to Naval 
Committee, requesting permission to appear & refute See's testi- 
mony. 

It had always been the custom for the Secretary of the 
Navy to be the first to testify before the House Commit- 
tee, but on this occasion the Secretary was the last. 

The following account of the Secretary's testimony is 
taken from the New York Herald, on April 4 : 

Just before the hearings on the naval bill came to a close 
before the House Committee on Naval Affairs today Josephus 
Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, took occasion to bring about a 
final airing of his personal differences with Rear Admiral Brad- 
ley A. Fiske, U, S. N, one-time Aid for Operations. Mr. Daniels, 
in answer to questions propounded by Representative Lemuel 
P. Padgett, of Tennessee, chairman of the committee, tried to 
impress the committee with the fact that Rear Admiral Fiske 
in criticising the situation in the navy and its lack of prepared- 
ness, was moved by personal grievances rather than by higher 
motives. 

One of the causes of differences, the Secretary said, was his 
issuance of the order barring wine from the officers' mess. Rear 
Admiral Fiske, he stated, had protested against this. Then, 
to cap the climax, he said : 

Rear Admiral Fiske told me that if the officers were deprived 
of their wine they could take to cocaine. 

The Secretary then went on to give further details of his 
relations with the Rear Admiral. 

RAISES ISSUE OF VERACITY 

In one instance a direct issue of veracity was raised. Rear 
Admiral Fiske told the committee that he acted as the personal 



SECRETARY'S ATTACK ON ME 603 

messenger of the Secretary when he sent word that he desired 
the General Board to suppress its recommendations with respect 
to increased personnel of the navy. 

Today, Mr. Daniels said : 

"I never told the General Board to do anything in my life." 

"The Secretary's broadside at the officer all occurred in the 
last few minutes of the hearing. 

Mr. Daniels also contradicted in some degree the statement of 
Rear Admiral Fiske with regard to his failure to be appointed 
to the General Board. The Secretary said it was true that 
Admiral George Dewey had recommended the appointment of 
the officer to the Board, but he had afterwards changed his mind, 
saying he thought Rear Admiral Fiske too "theoretical" for this 
post and that a more practical man should be appointed to it. 

The thing the Secretary wanted to emphasize most, it ap- 
peared, was his contention that the Rear Admiral's troubles 
with the civilian head of the department, arose long before the 
question of preparedness became acute ; that when Rear Admiral 
Charles J. Badger was about to retire Rear Admiral Fiske im- 
portuned the Secretary "a dozen times" that he be made com- 
mander in chief of the Atlantic fleet; that when it was sug- 
gested that Rear Admiral Fletcher, now Admiral, might be 
available for the appointment of commander of the fleet. Rear 
Admiral Fiske stated that he would not desire the place and 
would refuse it if it was offered to him; whereupon, according 
to Mr. Daniels, the Secretary wrote and offered the place to 
Rear Admiral Fletcher and he was glad to accept the appoint- 
ment. 

Also, the Secretary explained that the real issue between him- 
self and Rear Admiral Fiske was whether the navy should be 
operated under the ideals of the Old World or of America. 

"He told me, not once, but five times," said the Secretary, 
"that if we did not follow the principle of militarism and put 
men at the head of the navy whose fathers and grandfathers 
had been naval officers, we would never attain any degree of 
preparedness. ' ' 

Apr. 5. N. Y. Sun & World say editorially I must reply to 
Sec. Herald has editorial taking my side against Sec. Nav. I 
must defend myself. Fortunately that is easy. 



604 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

After my meeting with Schroeder, Wainwright, and 
Osterhaus, I prepared a letter to House Naval Committee. 
We had a meeting the following morning, April 5, at 
which I read my letter to them. They suggested a few 
minor changes in it, which I made. At their suggestion 
I handed this personally to the secretary of the House 
Naval Committee. 

My letter read as follows: 

Washington, D. C. 
April 5, 1916. 

To the Naval Committee, 

House of Representatives, 
Hon. Lemuel P. Padgett, Chairman. 
Gentlemen: 

Referring to my testimony given before the Naval Committee 
on March 24 and 26, to the testimony given on April 3 by the 
Honorable Secretary of the Navy and the editorials in this 
morning's issue of the New York World, Sun and Herald, I beg 
leave to request your attention to the fact that the testimony 
of the Secretary has cast a serious cloud on mine. 

For this reason I respectfully request permission to appear 
before the committee to explain certain occurrences concerning 
which I fear that the Secretary's memory had led him to do me 
great injustice. 

According to all the papers that I have seen, the Secretary 
said that I told him that if naval officers were deprived of their 
wine they would take cocaine. It is true that I tried to per- 
suade the Secretary not to prohibit wine and beer; spirituous 
liquors had been forbidden by law for fifty years. My argu- 
ments were expressed in a closely typewritten letter to him, four 
pages long, dated May 27, 1914, and covered many points. It 
would be necessary to read this entire letter to get a correct idea 
of what I told the Secretary. I should like to show a copy of the 
letter to the committee. 

I did not know that my letter caused any unpleasantness be- 
tween the Secretary and me. It caused no unpleasant feeling on 
my part toward the Secretary, because I felt that he was act- 
ing according to his convictions. 

In the matter of desiring to be commander in chief of the 
Atlantic fleet, I did make application for the command. Such 



MY LETTER IN DEFENSE 605 

an application was perfectly proper, as I had served success- 
fully in command of three divisions at different times and was 
then aid for operations, which many officers thought a more 
important position. 

I wish an opportunity, however, to convince the committee 
that I did not tell the Secretary that Fletcher did not want the 
command; the Secretary's memory leads him into error there. 
What I did tell the Secretary was that Fletcher had told me 
some time before that he thought the natural thing to do when 
Admiral Badger gave up the command was to give it to me, make 
Fletcher aid for operations and then make Fletcher commander 
in chief when I retired, Fletcher being eighteen months younger 
than I and my junior in rank. 

I find the following entry in my diary on the date of April 
30,1914: 

"Secretary of the Navy, in accordance with my request, tele- 
graphed Fletcher asking him if he would like to change places 
with me. " 

Fletcher was then in Mexico in command of the first divi- 
sion, which I had commanded a year and a half before; and 
Admiral Winslow, my junior, also a candidate for the position 
of commander in chief, was also in Mexico, in command of the 
special service squadron. It will be seen that at my request I 
was to leave Washington, give up altogether my position as aid 
for operations and take a much lower place — a subordinate posi- 
tion in the fleet in Mexico as commander of the first division. 
Surely this was not pressing my claims unduly, but rather 
the reverse. 

I find an entry in my diary of May 1 — 

"Fletcher answered above despatch, saying that he would not 
like to become aid for operations, as he wished to succeed the 
present commander in chief." 

I was greatly surprised but Fletcher has explained to me since 
why he changed his mind. It is needless to state that Fletcher 's 
reasons were perfectly satisfactory to me. 

I find in my diary under date of June 15, 1914, 

' ' Secretary of the Navy told me the accounts published in the 
morning papers were correct ; that he is going to make Fletcher 
commander in chief. I told him I could make no objection, that 
I had continually praised Fletcher as a fine admiral and that he 
could make no mistake in making Fletcher commander in chief. ' ' 



606 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

I have never had the slightest ill feeling about this episode, and 
I have told every one to whom I have talked about it that if 
I had been in the Secretary's place I would have appointed 
Fletcher because he had made good in important practical work 
in Mexico. For many years Fletcher and I have been close 
friends, and we are so still. 

As to my telling the Secretary, not once but many times, that 
"if we did not put men at the head of the navy whose fathers 
and grandfathers had been in the service, we would never be 
able to obtain any degree of preparedness," I have never en- 
tertained such ideas; my father was a clergyman, and not one 
of my paternal ancestors for more than four hundred years 
had been in the army or navy. My maternal uncle was in the 
navy, but he was killed at the age of eighteen ; and my maternal 
grandfather was an army officer in his early days, but resigned 
and went into the lumber business. 

I do not remember any other army or navy relatives, and I 
am not a militarist or a believer in caste. What I did tell the 
Secretary was that countries like Germany and Japan have aims 
and ideals different from ours; that in those countries every 
man is in a measure military, as his father and grandfather 
were before him, and that such nations naturally have a greater 
military spirit and a greater military ability than nations like 
ours. 

Referring to that part of the Secretary's testimony that bears 
on my testimony that the Secretary directed the omission of a 
recommendation of 19,600 men from the General Board's report 
of December, 1914, I should like an opportunity to convince the 
committee of the correctness of my recollection by showing the 
entries made in my diary at the time. 

Very respectfully, 

B. A. FisKE, 
Rear Admiral, United States Navy. 

Apr. 6. Navy League has ordered 2500 copies of my "Naval 
Strategy" & asked me to read it before the convention next 
month, & has put my name on program to read it. Of course, I 
am forbidden to speak at all on Preparedness ! So some one else 
will have to read it. 

Apr. 7. N. y. Herald, Times, Sun, Tribune & American — • 
also Wash. Post (doubtless practically all big papers) have long 



NAVY LEAGUE CONVENTION 607 

seare-head accounts of my letter to House Naval Committee, 
quoting it almost in full. . . . Lots of letters from friends 
about it. 

Apr. 8. I rec'd Mr. Padgett's letter, saying Naval Com- 
mittee would not call me, but I may send copy of my letter 
of May 27, 1914, expostulating about the See's wine mess order 
& he will print it in the hearings. So I wrote to Sec, asking 
for a copy of it & wrote Padgett, telling him I had done so. 
Lots of congratulatory letters from friends. 

Apr. 11. . . . Repr. Gardner in his Navy League speech 
ended "Bradley Fiske, I salute you as our Arnold von Winkel- 
reid." 

Apr. 12. At meeting of Navy League this a. m., Col. Thomp- 
son, the Prest. of League read a letter from Sec. Nav declining 
to permit me to read my paper on "Naval Strategy" published 
in March-April Naval Institute. Col. Thompson made eloquent 
speech denouncing See's act, & was followed by W. S. Stayton 
on same lines, but bitter. Stayton was followed by Henry 
Reuterdahl, the artist, in really an oratorical outburst — at the 
conclusion of which all the audience rose & cheered me ! Mayor 
Lewis of Forest City, Ills, read my paper. When he started, 
Stayton asked audience to act as if he were Adm. Fiske, & 
they all got up and cheered again ! ! Very nerve-racking to 
me! 

Apr. 13. Morning papers devote considerable space & head- 
lines to demonstration of cheers & hisses at Navy League yester- 
day. Senate yesterday p. m. adopted unanimously a resolution 
proposed by Senator Lodge "directing" See. Nav. to send to 
Senate Gen. Board's letter of Aug. 3, 1914, urging getting 
navy ready & my letter to Sec. of Nov. 9, 1914,^ reporting navy 
unprepared for war ! ! Papers mention it. 

Apr. 15. Rec'd from Dept. a letter enclosing a photo copy of 
my letter expostulating against using the Wine Mess Order. 
Took it down to Naval Committee with a letter of transmittal 
from me, & handed it to the Sec. of the Committee. 

This letter was very long, and analyzed the whole sobri- 
ety question as related to the navy. It dealt also with the 
letter from the surgeon-general, which seemed to me an 
insult to navy officers, because it represented them as 

1 See page 555. 



608 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO BEAR-ADMIRAL 

being much less sober than the enlisted men. My letter 
pointed out also that whatever lapses from sobriety oc- 
curred, occurred in almost every case when on shore 
leave, away from the restrictions of naval life, so that 
the Secretary's order would not affect the real trouble. 
It also predicted that the issuing of the order would not 
decrease drunkenness. My information is that this pre- 
diction has been fulfilled. In the middle of paragraph 
ten was the sentence, ''Another effect would be an in- 
creased temptation to use cocaine and other drugs. ' ' 

Apr. 17. Called on Admiral Dewey, & he stated in the most 
emphatic terms that the statement to House Naval Committee 
made by Sec. Nav. in his recent testimony to the effect that 
Dewey had asked Sec. not to keep me on Gen. Bd., as he wanted 
a practical man and not a theoretical man was utterly in 
error ! ! Dewey also told me that he was telling this broadcast. 
Several ofi&cers had told me of this. 

The statement of the Secretary as printed in the offi- 
cial report of his testimony was as follows : 

"Later Admiral Dewey requested me not to put Admiral 
Fiske on the General Board. He said he wanted a practical 
man ; that Fiske was too theoretical ; and I did not put him on. ' ' 

This statement surprised me for the reason that I had 
served twice on the General Board and Admiral Dewey 
had given me the mark 4 (the perfect mark) on every 
semi-annual efficiency report; and his request that I be 
retained on the board after being relieved as aid for 
operations, had been made without any suggestion from 
me. Furthermore he had put my name in a short list of 
officers whom he had mentioned for ''heroic conduct" 
at the Battle of Manila and had taken occasion many 
times while I was on the board to compliment me on my 
abilites and conduct. So I was not surprised when I 
heard that Admiral Dewey was denying the statement 
attributed to him. 

Finally, after several officers had told me that Dewey 



ADMIRAL DEWEY'S STATEMENT 609 

was denying it, I went to his office to ask him face to 
face if he had done so. When he saw me coming in at 
the door he rose from his chair (in the presence of his 
aid, Lieut. Commander Le Breton) and advanced to- 
wards me with both hands outstretched, saying, 

' ' Fiske, I never said it, I never said it. No communica- 
tion passed between the Secretary and me about your 
staying on the board except when you were present, and 
you heard me tell the Secretary that I wanted you to 
stay.'* 



CHAPTER XL 

UNPEEPAEEDNESS LETTER, LETTER OP PRESIDENT, AND 
RETIREMENT 

APR. 19. . . . Telephone message from See's Aid said my 
preparedness letter cannot be found ! I sent a copy, which 
was copied and returned. 

Apr. 23. . . . All the papers (I believe) print my Unpre- 
paredness letter practically in full. Sec. transmitted it to 
Senate yesterday with a letter, etc., etc., etc. 

The Secretary's letter read as follows: 

The Secretary of the Navy, 
Washington, D. C, April 21, 1916. 
To the Senate: 

I am in receipt of the resolution adopted by the Senate on 
April 12, 1916, calling for— 

(1) A communication, dated August 3, 1914, from the Gen- 
eral Board of the Navy warning the Navy Department of the 
necessity of bringing the Navy to a state of preparedness. 

(2) A communication, dated November 9, 1914, from Rear 
Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, senior adviser to the Secretary, 
warning the Navy Department of the unprepared state of the 
Navy. 

Upon receipt of this resolution, diligent search was made 
in the files of the Department for the communications desired. 
That dated November 9, 1914, from Rear Admiral Fiske, is ap- 
pended hereto. The chief clerk was unable to find it in his files, 
it having been withdrawn by an officer who "looked it up sev- 
eral times but could not find it." However, the copy herewith 
transmitted was furnished the Department by Admiral Fiske at 
my request. 

This communication was not furnished me, and I did not know 
of its existence until long after it was written. I find upon 
inquiry that it was filed with the chief clerk, without my knowl- 

610 



UNPREPAREDNESS LETTER 611 

edge that it had been written. Although Rear Admiral Fiske 
was in my office daily, he did not tell me he had placed the com- 
munication on file. His article was written after the estimates 
for the Navy, as required by law, had been submitted, and I 
was left in ignorance of its existence, while Congress was con- 
sidering legislation for the increase of the Navy, and actually 
enacting legislation which has secured the best organization 
the Navy Department has enjoyed in its history. I was greatly 
surprised when I learned that a communication deemed im- 
portant enough now to be the subject of a Senate resolution 
was not considered by its author of sufficient importance for 
him to present in person to me, instead of depositing it, with- 
out acquainting me of his action, in the files of the Navy 
Department. 

"We were unable to find any communication such as that de- 
scribed in the resolution, from the General Board under date 
of August 3, 1914, though our files contained a letter of two 
days previous not bearing upon the subject mentioned in your 
resolution. I therefore addressed the following letter to Admiral 
Dewey, president of the General Board: 

SECRETARY 's LETTER TO DEWEY 

April 17, 1916. 

My dear Admiral Dewey : I am in receipt of a resolution from 
the Senate requesting me to send "a communication, dated 
August 3, 1914, from the General Board of the Navy, warning 
the Navy Department of the necessity of bringing the Navy to a 
state of preparedness. 

I have made a careful examination of the files of the Navy 
Department and have not been able to find any such communica- 
tion. If the General Board has such a communication of that 
date, won't you please send me a copy? 

Sincerely yours, 

JosEPHUs Daniels. 
Admiral George Dewey, 

President of the General Board, Washington. 
In response to this inquiry, I received the following letter from 
Admiral Dewey: 

Office of the Admiral of the Navy, 
Washington, April 18, 1916. 
My dear Mr. Secretary: — I am in receipt of your letter of 



612 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the 17th inst. asking me to send you a communication from the 
General Board, dated August 3, 1914, "warning the Navy De- 
partment of the necessity of bringing the Navy to a state of 
preparedness." 

There is no letter or recommendation from the General Board 
bearing the date of August 3, 1914. I find however, that on 
August 1, 1914, a special meeting was called at the request 
of Rear Admiral Fiske, aid for operations, to consider the with- 
drawal of battleships from Mexican waters to their home yards. 
A letter adopted at this meeting, and bearing its date, was 
signed by Rear Admiral Knight, senior member present, a copy 
of which is forwarded herewith. 

You will note that this is a confidential communication, and 
as it bears intimately' upon our policy with regard to certain 
foreign powers I do not think it advisable that it should be 
given to the public. 

Sincerely yours, 

George Dewey. 
Hon. Josephus Daniels, 

Secretary of the Navy. 

It will be noted that Admiral Dewey states the communication 
of August 1, 1914, "bears intimately upon our policy with re- 
gard to certain foreign powers," and that he does "not think 
it advisable that it should be given to the public." In view of 
this statement of Admiral Dewey and of the fact that the letter 
of August 1, 1914, does not refer to "the necessity of bringing 
the Navy to a state of preparedness, ' ' as stated in the resolution 
adopted by your body, it does not appear to be in the public in- 
terest to transmit the confidential communication of the General 
Board of August 1, 1914. No other report from the General 
Board touching preparedness has been received except those 
published as appendices to my reports and in my hearing before 
the House Committee on Naval Afi'airs. 

Respectfully, 

Josephus Daniels. 
The Senate of the United States, 

Washington, D. C. 

Apr. 29. . . . Army & Navy Journal has editorial "Admiral 
Fiske & the Secretary," saying a naval correspondent says so 
and so — recounting facts stated by him, showing I did show 
Sec. the Unpreparedness Letter. 



UNPREPAREDNESS LETTER 613 

From Washington, I returned to the war college. Then 
I wrote the following letter : 

U. S. Navy War College, 
Newport, R. I., April 29, 191&. 

To the President of the Senate : 

In a communication to the Senate, dated April 21, 1916, 
transmitting a copy of a letter dated Nov. 9, 1914, to the Navy 
Department from me as Aid for Operations, the Secretary of 
the Navy makes the following statement: 

"This communication was not furnished me, and I did not 
know of its existence until long after it was written. I find 
upon inquiry that it was filed with the chief clerk, without 
my knowledge that it had been written. Although Rear Ad- 
miral Fiske was in my office daily, he did not tell me he had 
placed the communication on file. His article was written 
after the estimates for the Navy, as required by law, had been 
submitted; and I was left in ignorance of its existence, while 
Congress was considering legislation for the increase of the 
Navy, and actually enacting legislation which has secured the 
best organization the Navy Department has enjoyed in its 
history. I was greatly surprised when I learned that a com- 
munication deemed important enough now to be the subject 
of a Senate resolution was not considered by its author of suffi- 
cient importance for him to present in person to me, instead of 
depositing it, without acquainting me of his action, in the files 
of the Navy Department." 

2. This statement constituted an accusation against me of a 
grave breach of official propriety — in fact, of actual under- 
handedness — of an attempt to conceal an important letter from 
the Secretary; while as a matter of fact, I was always scrupu- 
lously careful never to permit him to receive, or to remain under, 
any mistaken impression, or to be in ignorance of any important 
matter, if I could prevent it. 

3. The statement appeared in the New York Herald and in 
many other papers on April 23, 1916, and injured my reputa- 
tion for fair dealing. 

4. For this reason I respectfully request permission to ap- 
pear before such persons as you may designate, and state facts 
which I and other officers remember very clearly, and which 
are noted in my diary, showing that there has been a lapse of 



614 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

memory on the part of the Secretary. In particular, I wish to 
show the two following entries that appear in my diary : 

Nov. 5. I showed Secretary paper I had written to him, stat- 
ing Navy is unprepared and needs more men, more training, 
and a general staff. He made almost no comment on my paper, 
though he read it carefully. During conversation, See. referred 
to time in early April, 1913, etc., etc. 

Nov. 10. I showed Assistant Sec. a copy of my letter to 
Sec. on unpreparedness of the navy, lack of training, lack of 
general staff, etc. He said, it was bully and he would keep it, 
etc. 

5. Attention is invited to the fact that, although the copy of 
the letter sent to the Senate was dated Nov. 9, while the entry 
in my diary was Nov. 5, yet nevertheless my diary shows that 
the contents of the letter were the same as the contents of the 
letter of Nov. 9. My recollection is that I kept the letter on 
my desk a few days, intending to take up the matter again with 
the Secretary, but finally decided not to do so, but merely to 
file it ; and that a fresh copy was made. The date was probably 
changed by inadvertence, but no changes were made in the let- 
ter beyond possibly some verbal alterations. Certainly no change 
was made in the character or purport of the letter. 

I should also like to prove by my diary that this letter was 
merely the concentrated essence of a great many oral conversa- 
tions carried on frequently after the war began, in which I re- 
peatedly urged on the Secretary the peril of the country and 
the need for more men, a General Staff and more progressive 
training. 

7. In case you do not deem it wise to grant this request, I then 
ask you as a matter of justice, to give this letter as much pub- 
licity as was given to the letter of the Secretary. 

Very respectfully, 

Bradley A. Fiskb, 
Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy. 

I was much surprised that the Secretary should state 
that "the letter of August 1, 1914, does not refer to the 
necessity of bringing the Navy to a state of prepared- 
ness. '^ It was my intention that the letter should urge 
it, and it was my recollection that it did. A reference 
to the entry in my diary under date of Aug. 1, 1914, con- 



UNPREPAREDNESS LETTER 615 

firmed me in this recollection. I did not think it proper 
to state this in my letter, however, as it might be inter- 
preted as questioning the veracity of the Secretary. 

May 3. The newspapers say that Vice-President Marshall 
gave my letter to Naval Committee to decide what to do with it, 
that Lodge defended my action and Tillman said I was "in 
a mud hole." 

May 4, Newspapers state that Senator Tillman read my 
letter in the Senate and then declared it was due to wounded 
vanity, disappointed ambition, etc., and Senator Lodge de- 
fended me. N. Y. Sun and N. Y. World have strong editorials 
saying the case must be investigated: World is particularly 
strong. 

May 8. Received characteristic note from T. R. "I am very 
glad to get your piece on Naval Strategy, and to sit at the feet 
of Gamaliel." 

May 15. The newspapers print with appropriate headlines 
an open letter* written by the American Defense Society to 
the President, urging him to investigate the "question of verac- 
ity" between Sec. Nav. and me! 

The letter of the society was as follows : 

New York, May 12, 1916. 
The President of the United States, 
White House, 

Washington, D. C. 
Dear Mr. President : — 

The American Defense Society desires to call your attention 
to an unfortunate situation. 

As the result of a request from the United States Senate, the 
Secretary of the Navy recently made public a letter written on 
November 9th, 1914, by Rear-Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, who 
was then Aide for Operations. 

The Secretary of the Navy has stated that his Aide for Op- 
erations filed this letter with the chief clerk of the Navy De- 
partment and did not show it to the Secretary. Admiral Fiske 
states that he handed the letter to the Secretary of the Navy 
as the latter was standing at his desk in the Navy Department, 
and he read it carefully. 

An issue of veracity has thus arisen between Rear-Admiral 



616 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

Bradley A. Fiske and the Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Presi- 
dent, we respectfully petition you, in fairness to your Secretary 
of the Navy, and fairness to a gallant naval officer, not to 
allow this matter to remain uninvestigated. 

Admiral Fiske graduated from the Naval Academy in 1874; 
he has given forty-two years of service to his country. When 
he served as navigating officer of the Petrel at the battle of 
Manila, he was cited by his captain for "eminent and conspicu- 
ous conduct in battle," and by Admiral Dewey for "heroic 
conduct"; his series of inventions have done more than those 
of any other man to place the United States Navy in a pre- 
eminent position; his telescope sight has been adopted by every 
navy in the world, and is chiefly responsible for the improve- 
ment that has taken place in the naval gunnery since 1898. 

Admiral Fiske is recognized throughout the Service as the 
logical successor to Admiral Mahan; his writings on naval 
strategy mark him as the leading strategist in the United States 
Navy. His record, therefore is one of gallantry in battle, 
coupled with faithful attention to the less spectacular duties of a 
naval officer in time of peace. Never before has there been a 
blot on his record; today he stands accused by your Secretary 
of the Navy of negligence and untruthfulness, for if he filed 
his letter on the unpreparedness of the Navy with the Chief 
Clerk, without showing it to the Secretary, he was culpably 
negligent of his duty. This, he says, he did not do. We earn- 
estly request that, without delay, you will order an investiga- 
tion. 

Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) C. S. Thompson, 
Chairman Executive Committee. 

May 16. N. Y. Times and World have editorials, insisting 
that "question of veracity" between Sec. Nav. and me be in- 
vestigated. ' ' 

May 24. The newspapers publish a letter from President 
Wilson to the American Defense Society in reply to their letter 
of May 14, in which President quotes a letter from Sec. Nav. 
saying he accepted my statement that I had shown my Unpre- 
paredness letter to him and he had read it ! 

The letter of the President read as follows : 



UNPREPAREDNESS LETTER 617 

The White House, 
Washington, May 22nd, 1916. 
My Dear Sir : 

I am in receipt of your letter of the twelfth of May. I re- 
ferred it to the Secretary of the Navy and he has furnished me 
the following memorandum: 

"Some days ago, in response to a resolution of the Senate, 
I transmitted to that honorable body a copy of a communica- 
tion written by Rear Admiral Fiske in November, 1914, In 
transmitting the letter I stated that I had not seen it and did 
not know that it had been filed until long after it was filed with 
the chief clerk. 

"In a recent letter to the Senate Rear Admiral Fiske stated 
that my statement showed a 'lapse of memory,' because he had 
presented the letter to me and I had read it. I have no recol- 
lection that this paper was ever presented to me or of reading 
it. 

"Inasmuch, however, as Admiral Fiske states that he did 
show it to me before it was filed I of course accept his state- 
ment. It was his custom while aide for operations to present 
to me scores of papers bearing upon all naval matters. It is 
utterly impossible for any Ca'binet Officer in the multiplicity of 
papers presented to him to recall all of them. 

"I had talked with Rear Admiral Fiske several times about 
the subject matter of the communication, upon which I had 
rather fixed views. But I did not, when my letter was written 
to the Senate, and do not now, recall that he had any time 
committed his views to paper, presented them to me or placed 
them on file." 

Inasmuch as the difference referred to in your letter between 
the Secretary of the Navy and Rear Admiral Fiske is merely 
one of recollection of an incident which occurred in November, 
1914, and inasmuch as the Secretary says that, while he has no 
recollection of having read the communication by Rear Admiral 
Fiske, he is willing to accept the Admiral 's statement, the matter 
does not seem to me to call for any comment. 

Very truly yours, 

WooDROw Wilson. 

May 25. Letter from Dr. Graeme Hammond says no need for 
apprehension about Jo." 



618 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

During the preceding two years my wife's health had 
caused me great anxiety. The physicians did not seem 
to be able to locate the cause of her distress ; but finally 
they declared that her system indicated a nervous 
malady. 

June 2nd. Adm. Benson made adulatory speech at U. S. N. A. 
dinner Annapolis last night about Sec. Nav. and telling the fine 
things he and Sec. had been doing during past year. Unpro- 
fessional. 

June 11. Sunday. . . . Leave Newport for N, Y. tonight and 
bid farewell to my naval life. 

June 13. Retired today. 62 years old. Had a wonderful 
ovation from American Defense Society in big room of Great 
Northern Hotel, hung with flags, etc., during which I was pre- 
sented with a book by the Society, my name on outside in gold 
letters, etc., etc., letter read to me, etc. I made a speech in 
answer, and then several photographers and "movie men" took 
pictures of us. 

The letter from the American Defense Society, read as 
follows : 

American Defense Society 

303 Fifth Avenue 

New York 

OFFICE OP THE TRUSTEES. 

Dear Admiral Fiske: 

With sincere pleasure we hand you this album containing ex- 
tracts from the leading papers of the country which should be 
of particular interest to yourself. 

To have been instrumental in having justice done in this 
public way to a gallant and distinguished officer of the United 
States Navy is a source of satisfaction to the American Defense 
Society. 

And may we say in conclusion that your dignified and courte- 
ous bearing in the trying circumstances of an extremely un- 
pleasant experience has won universal admiration, and has 
increased, if that is possible, the high regard and esteem in 
which you are held not only by the members of the American 



UNPREPAREDNESS LETTER 619 

Defense Society, but by millions of your fellow countrymen. 
Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) J. H. Coit, 
Chairman of the Board of Trustees. 
June 13, 1916. 



CHAPTER XLI 

WAE CLOSE AT HAND 

JUNE IS, Sunday. Spent four days with Poultney Bigelow 
at Maiden on Hudson: — very good time, very simple life, 
etc. 

July 31. Arrived Jamestown, R. I., and established our- 
selves at The Thorndike. 

Aug. 17. Mr. Burton J. Hendrick here yesterday and to- 
day to get me to write articles for World's Work of which he 
is one of the editors. I agreed to write four articles, beginning 
January, of about 4,000 words each, etc. 

Aug. 18. Went on board Wyoming and talked to young offi- 
cers as well as to C in C and Captain about horizometer. Told 
them about preventing enemy's range finding by my old scheme 
of putting strips of wood, etc., on our masts, etc. At Captain's 
(Wiley's) suggestion, I called attention of Department to it in 
an official letter. 

This scheme of preventing range-finding by an enemy 
was a scheme that I had devised when I was executive 
officer of the battleship Massachusetts in 1902. I had 
told possibly half a dozen officers about it under the 
pledge of secrecy, because I thought it would be a very 
valuable thing to use in case we ever got into war, but I. 
wanted the idea kept secret. The scheme was simply to 
break up the smooth lines on a ship, such as the sides of 
masts, funnels, etc., by putting irregular strips of wood 
on them, or pieces of canvas that would flutter. To use 
the ordinary one-observer range-finder, a smooth vertical 
line is necessary ; and I found by some experiments which 
I carried on on board the Massachusetts that accurate 
range-finding could be prevented by that simple means. 
One day I sent out a whale-boat to a distance of about 
half a mile from the ship, with her two masts stepped. 

620 



WAR CLOSE AT HAND 621 

One mast had the irregular pieces of wood nailed on it, 
and the other was in its ordinary condition. I tried 
using the range-finder myself, and I found I could meas- 
ure the ranges of the smooth mast very accurately, but 
of the other one only inaccurately. I did not tell any- 
body what I was trying to do, and I fancied from some 
of the fragments of comment that I heard that some peo- 
ple thought I had gone crazy. 

During the fourteen years that had intervened, all the 
navies had gone ahead using range-finders, and I had 
never heard an intimation from anybody that any one 
realized how easy it would be to prevent range-finding. 
The few officers to whom I had confided my scheme seemed 
very much surprised at what I told them. On August 
18 Captain Wiley said he was so sure that we were go- 
ing to get into war that he urged me to explain my 
scheme to the department officially. 

So I wrote a letter to the department, and I got Ad- 
miral Knight, as president of the war college, to put a 
favorable indorsement on it, and recommend that it be 
tried in the fleet. The Navy Department never answered 
my letter; but a few weeks later. Admiral Knight re- 
ceived a letter, signed by Admiral Benson, as acting secre- 
tary, saying that my letter had been received, etc ! 

By reason of the great attention that has been drawn 
to camouflage, I have recently been informed that there 
is no longer any reason for my maintaining secrecy in 
regard to my device for preventing range-finding. 

Aug 20, Sunday, N. Y. Times has illustrated interview with 
me in first page Magazine Section; headed ''Politics is Foe of 

Preparedness." Rec'd telegram from a Mr. asking if I 

would consider presidency of Shipbuilding Co., etc. ! ! 

The interview in the Times was called sharply to the 
attention of the reader by a hideous picture of me. 
The first paragraph read as follows : 

The dangerous enemy of the United States is not Germany or 
Japan ; it is the American politician. It is not the open foe ; it 



622 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

is the secret poison that reduces our power to repel the foe. 
It is not the army and navy of any foreign power, because we 
can raise an army and navy better than theirs; it is the poli- 
tician who prevents our getting an adequate army and navy; 
who persuades the people that such an army and navy will 
cause a horrible thing that the politician calls "militarism." 
The nation can gain the victory over a foreign foe, but is 
powerless against the politician; "the soulless politician," as 
Whittier calls him, "who gambles for office with dice loaded 
with human hearts." Few men die by reason of external vio- 
lence; it is internal disease that kills them. From the stand- 
point of national longevity, politics is a disease. 

Aug. 29, . . . Mr. appeared yesterday and offered me 

presidency of new Company, the " shipbuilding company," 

at terms which are very tempting to a poor naval officer. After 
talking it over with Jo, I declined. President signed Navy Bill, 
including the General Staff provision! 

Thus was the navy finally given a general staff against 
the opposition of the Navy Department and half of the 
House Naval Committee. I feel that I have not lived in 
vain. 

Sept. 4. Jo has been taken very ill. On advice of Dr. Buck- 
ler, I am taking her to N. Y. this evening. Jo was not really ill 
till Friday, Sept. 1st. 

Sept. 9. Saturday. Dr. Coe and nurse & I took Jo to Roose- 
velt Hospital in her car. She stood trip quite well. 

Sept. 10. Sunday. Jo resting fairly well, with assistance 
of Codeine and other sedatives. Carrie is in Washington, pack- 
ing up our household goods in Stoneleigh Court for shipment 
to N. Y. Sent Marie (Jo's maid) to Washington. 

Sept. 11. Dr. Coe says he must operate tomorrow. He told 
Jo this p. m. & she took news tranquilly. 

Sept. 12. Coe operated from 9 to 10 this forenoon. Jo 
stood operation well & was back in her room by half past ten. 
I saw her in the afternoon from 4 to 4.30. She was in a good 
deal of pain & moaned & groaned a great deal. 

The next five months were the most anxious time of 
my life. My wife rallied well from the operation, but 
failed to gain strength afterward. About the first of 



WAR CLOSE AT HAND 623 

October she began to get weaker and during the latter 
part of October she was virtually unconscious most of 
the time. I spent an hour with her every forenoon and 
every afternoon. During the entire month of November 
she was virtually oblivious of her surroundings most of 
the time, and was in coma, so the doctors told me, a great 
part of the time. In the early part of November no one 
expected her to live ; but at the same time there was no 
instant when anj^body thought that she was going to die 
soon, because her heart kept beating with a full, strong, 
and regular stroke. Toward the latter part of November 
hopes began to be entertained of her recovery. She 
progressed uniformly, but with extraordinary slowness, 
all during the month of December, but oblivious of her 
surroundings and unmindful of the presence of any- 
body. 

This is a very large world, and many things are hap- 
pening in it. People who are ill, and the friends who 
are tending them, are on the sidewalk of life, while the 
great procession moves down the avenue; they are like 
the wounded in the hospitals, while the battle is raging 
on the field near by. 

During the time that my wife was lying at death's 
door, the procession was moving by that door. Part 
of that procession I saw, as some of the entries in my 
diary testify. 

Sept. 19. . . . The morning papers devote great attention to 
the British Land Dreadnought. I showed Wagstaffe last night 
the picture in the Popular Science Monthly of last (I think) 
October, illustrating an extract from my essay "Naval Power" 
published in Naval Institute in 1911. 

Oct. 9, German submarine U-53 that came into Newport on 
Saturday, torpedoed from "6 to 9" vessels yesterday near Nan- 
tucket ! 

Oct. 14. My book is out today, & is conspicuously advertised 
in the N. Y. Times, Sun & Tribune. 

Oct. 15. Sunday. N. Y. Times, Sun & N. Y. American pub- 
lish in full my interview with Wagstaffe on "What the Visit 



624 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

of the U-53 Portends." I believe it is published also in various 
other papers in various cities. 

Oct. 17. Morning mail informs me that at the Annual Meet- 
ing of the U. S. Naval Institute, held at the Naval Academy on 
Oct. 13, I was again elected President, This is the sixth time; 
and it beats the record, except that Admiral Luce was elected 
eleven times. It has not been the custom to elect a man as 
President who is on the retired list. In fact, Luce, who ceased 
to be President in 1898, was the last retired officer to be elected 
President. ' ' 

Oct. 20. ... I received a letter from Theodore Roosevelt 
to whom I had sent my book, in which was the following para- 
graph : 

"There is no one man to whom the United States Navy owes 
as much, during the last three and a half years as to you. You 
have shown the very rarest type of courage in standing up for 
it." 

The reviews of my book were extremely good. The 
book attracted much more attention than I expected, and 
the Conference Committee on Preparedness sent a copy 
to each senator and each member of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, personally. 

The book was called ''The Navy as a Fighting Ma- 
chine," and was written to show that a navy must be 
designed as a whole, like any other machine ; that it must 
be prepared and operated according to the principles that 
govern fighting (strategy); that it is merely a develop- 
ment of more primitive weapons ; and that it will be found 
ineffective, when used against a navy like the German 
navy, unless it has been prepared and designed with 
skill, and unless it is operated in war with skill. It 
proved also that a navy is like any other machine in that 
it cannot be designed, prepared, and operated with skill 
unless the man at the head understands it thoroughly. It 
showed how the personality of the chief of every organ- 
ization pervades the entire organization, and character- 
izes its activities. 

Oct. 30. . . . Committee from Lotus Club brought me in- 



WAR CLOSE AT HAND 625 

vitation to be chief guest at a Club dinner. I declined on ac- 
count of Jo's health. 

Nov. 6. Mr. E. P. Button took me for a drive of an hour 
in a small buggy behind a fast horse that he drove himself. He 
is 86 years old and two months and has been a half invalid 
all his life ! This shows how well the human machine will last 
if good care is taken of it. 

Nov. 7. . . . Election Day. 

Army and navy officers seldom vote. This is not be- 
cause they are not allowed to do so, but because they are 
continuing officers of the Government, and do not think 
it right to belong to either political party. At the same 
time I think that nine tenths of them, except those who 
come from the South, prefer to have the Republican party 
in power ; because of the two, the Republican party seems 
to take the broader international outlook, and to be less 
partizan and provincial. Army and navy officers de- 
plore the influence of politics in national and international 
affairs, especially in regard to the army and navy; but 
we think that the Republican party is the more patriotic 
of the two, and we know that it is more favorably in- 
clined toward an adequate army and navy. 

Some time in the latter part of 1916 Admiral Dewey 
said to me substantially as follows: 

* ' The situation in the country now is in one way almost 
exactly like what it was before the Civil War. This is 
one reason, although it isn't a very good one, why I 
feel sure that we are going to get into this war; you 
know when similar conditions prevail, similar results are 
apt to follow. Now, just before we got into the Civil 
War, things were as they are now; the South was in 
charge of the administration and the important com- 
mittees in Congress, and was running the Government 
for the benefit of the South, with the North paying the 
bills." 

Nov. 30. . . . Thanksgiving. Benson made awful testimony 
before House N. Committee against aeronautics ! ! ! Practically 
busted all I had done. 



i- 



626 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

Dec. 11. In England, Lloyd George has formed a "War 
Council" of five Cabinet officers of which he is head. All are 
civilians and are going to manage all the war business. I '11 
bet a dollar that they '11 direct the actual military and naval 
operations and do a world of harm. Unless they go contrary to 
the way men have gone in the past, they '11 not realize the 
necessities and factors of military affairs, and will interfere. 
The resulting danger to England looks very great to me. 
Dec. 12. . . . Lunched with the office staff of "Life.'' 
Dec. 18. . . . Adm. Benson testified before Committee that 
"in the navy we only need aviation for two purposes" — scout- 
ing from the fleet and spotting the fall of shot in battle. B-r-r-r, 
B-r-r-r. And this from a commissioned officer in the navy of 
the country of Langley and the Wright brothers, in November, 
1916 ! ! ! 

The following is a quotation from Page 575 of the 
Record of Admiral Benson's testimony before the Com- 
mittee of Naval Affairs, House of Representatives, 
November 29, 1916: 

The question of aviation is a very mixed one, I think, in 
most everybody's mind, because in the Navy we only need avia- 
tion for two purposes: First, for scouting, to get information 
from the enemy, when we want to act in conjunction with the 
fleet; and the other is to spot the fall of the shot in a battle. 
Now, it is the easiest thing in the world — we might get a thou- 
sand or more than a thousand aircraft, if we just wanted them 
to light on the land and fly over the land, but we, in the Navy, 
only want them for two purposes, and we want to concentrate 
all our energies and everything along those lines, to keep on 
until we have found what we want, and we have been experi- 
menting with a catapult — an arrangement that fires the aircraft 
off the deck of the ship, because if you do not — if you are on the 
water, it is almost impossible for aircraft to get off the water, 
if there is any sea on; if it is at all rough you can not do it, 
because the machine dives head into the sea that is swirling over 
it, and it is destroyed ; but if it can be fired from the deck of a 
ship, and go out into the air, as we are doing now from the 
North Carolina, and we hope in a few days from the Washing- 
ton, and later from the West Virginia — if he can go out and 



WAR CLOSE AT HAND 627 

fly at the rate of a hundred miles per hour for possibly five 
hours, he can come back, or send information back by radio to 
the ships in regard to the enemy. This is the primary use for 
which the navy wants aircraft; and the next thing is in battle 
for spotting the fall of the shot. 

How can we ''highly resolve that these dead shall not 
have died in vain ' ' when such testimony is officially given 
by the chief of naval operations to Congress ! 

That this testimony showed a knowledge far from 
up to date, is indicated by the following list of achieve- 
ments by aircraft that is taken from a book on naval 
aeronautics by Henry Woodhouse that appeared about 
six months after Benson's testimony, that is, in June, 
1917: 

1. Attacked ships and submarines at sea with bombs, tor- 
pedoes, and guns. (Seaplanes and dirigibles used.) 

2. Bombed the enemy's bases and stations. (Land aero- 
planes, seaplanes and dirigibles used.) 

3. Attacked the enemy's aircraft in the air. (Aeroplanes 
and seaplanes used.) 

4. Served as the eyes and scouts of fleets at sea. (Dirigibles, 
seaplanes and kite balloons used.) 

5. Protected ships at sea and in ports against attacks from 
hostile submarines and battleships, (Seaplanes and dirigibles 
used.) 

6. Defended and protected naval bases and stations from 
naval and aerial attacks. (Land aeroplanes, seaplanes and 
dirigibles used.) 

7. Convoyed troop ships and merchants ships on coastwise 
trips. (Dirigibles and seaplanes used.) 

8. Patrolled the coasts, holding up and inspecting doubtful 
ships, and convoying them to examining stations and searching 
coasts for submarine bases. (Dirigibles used.) 

9. Prevented hostile aircraft from locating the position and 
finding the composition and disposition of the fleet, getting the 
range of ships, naval bases, stations, magazines, etc. (Land 
aeroplanes and seaplanes used.) 

10. Located, and assisted trawlers, destroyers, and gunners 



628 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

in capturing or destroying hostile submarines. (Seaplanes, di- 
rigibles and kite balloons used.) 

11. Cooperated with submarines, guiding them in attacks on 
ships. (Dirigibles and seaplanes used.) 

12. Located mine fields and assisted trawlers in destroying 
mines. (Dirigibles, seaplanes and kite balloons used.) 

13. Served as the "eyes in planting mines," minimizing the 
time required for mine planting. (Dirigibles, seaplanes and 
kite balloons used.) 

14. Served as "spotters' in locating the position of the hostile 
ships and directing gun-fire. (Dirigibles, seaplanes and kite 
balloons used.) 

15. Served as carriers of important messages between ships 
which could not be entrusted to wireless owing to the possibility 
of the enemy wireless picking up the messages, such as com- 
municating to incoming ships information regarding the loca- 
tion of mines, submarines, and courses, to avoid mistakes and 
confusion. (Seaplanes and dirigibles used.) 

16. Carried out operations over land and sea intended to divert 
the attention of and mislead the enemy while strategical opera- 
tions were being carried out by the fleet or squadrons. (Land 
aeroplanes, seaplanes and dirigibles used.) 

17. Have made it possible for commanders to get films of 
theatre of operations, photographs of the location, composition 
and disposition of hostile naval forces, and photographic records 
of condition and of the movements and operations of their own, 
as well as of the hostile naval forces. 

These seventeen different kinds of employment of 
naval aircraft had been carried on on both sides in the 
North Sea during the war, and were perfectly well known. 
As far back as December 24, 1914, the English had sent 
an expeditionary force of seaplane carriers which had 
lowered bombing seaplanes into the water, and those sea- 
planes had bombed Cnxhaven, Germany's naval base. 
On February 12, 1915, thirty-four British airplanes and 
seaplanes, under the command of Wing-Commander Sam- 
son, raided Bruges, Zeebrugge, Blankenberghe, and Os- 
tend. The fact also that the British had sunk Turkish 



WAR CLOSE AT HAND 629 

vessels by torpedo-planes in 1915 and 1916 was also well 
known. 

My first article in The World's Work, which appeared 
in January, 1917, was directed to showing the impossi- 
bility of expanding a navy suddenly in the excitement of 
imminent war, and maintaining its efficiency during the 
operation. The first paragraph read as follows: 

'*A man rushed violently on to the platform of a rail- 
road station, but just missed the train. 

" 'You did n't run fast enough,' said a by-stander. 

'' *0h, yes, I did,' was the reply; 'but I didn't start 
soon enough.' " 

During the months that had gone by I had become in- 
creasingly alarmed at the inaction of the United States. 
I saw the enemy getting closer and closer, and no sign 
of preparation on our part. Believing, as I did, that 
the odds were in favor of Germany, because history 
showed that wars had nearly always been won by supe- 
rior strategy and not by superior numbers or material 
I was amazed at the complacency of the American public. 
I realized that, by such articles as I published in The 
World's Work, and especially the one just printed, I was 
making myself obnoxious to many influential people, and 
exposing myself to being regarded as a militarist, and 
also to other dangers. But I was so thoroughly alarmed 
that I had to cry out regardless of consequences. For- 
tunately, the press of the country seemed to support me. 
I realized that I could go no further than a position in 
which the press would support me, and for this reason 
I watched the comments of the press carefully, and noted 
them in my diary. I knew that if I went too far, what- 
ever influence my experience and age might give me 
would be entirely lost, and that all that I had been able 
to do would be undone. 

Jan. 6. . . . Attended luncheon of the Republican Club and 
discussion about preparedness. After the regular speeches had X 



630 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

ceased, I was called on. I spoke perhaps three minutes. N. Y. 
Times, Sun, Tribune and World head a column on a page 
(respectively) "Prepare or Perish says Admiral Fiske," ''Pre- 
pare or Perish is Fiske 's Warning," "Fiske warns of Peril, 
Prepare or Perish his Slogan," and "Nation Warned to Pre- 
pare or Perish by Admiral Fiske." N. Y. Herald simply gives a 
paragraph to it, saying, "Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske said, 
"We must prepare or Perish." 

The space and display given my brief remarks seemed 
to me extraordinary, and to show that New York was 
awaking to facts. 

Jan. 18. . . . Boston Transcript published my editorial on 
Dewey with only two very minor changes. I tried the effect of 
music on Jo, playing several selections on the victrola. It af- 
fected her pleasantly but not very greatly. Nat. Institute Effi- 
ciency made me Chairman Committee to get 5 lecturers for 
Chatauqua — I to be one ! 

Jan. 23. Life has a splendid and exceptional kind of a 
review of my book, not placed under the heading of book reviews, 
but as part of the news. 

Jan. 25, Spoke in Newark last night. Had splendid recep- 
tion. Got along bully. After my regular speech, I was asked 
to continue and make an informal talk about my own experi- 
ences in the Navy. I did so. 

Jan. 26. Spoke last night in D, A. R. Convention Hall in 
Wash, for Nat. Sec. League. Prof. Thayer, then ex-Sec. War 
Stimson, then I, then ex-Sec. Navy Meyer spoke. My interjected 
remark that America was not "Uncle Sam, but Aunt Elizabeth" 
took best of all I said. The big papers this morning devote 
nearly all their space to Elihu Root's speech, made before League 
in afternoon. This is right; his was far the best, and carried 
the most weight. 

In preparing my speech, I had written the following 
paragraph: "America is like a woman in the family of 
nations, because she depends for her safety on the ab- 
sence of physical danger, or on the strong right arm of 
others. Uncle Sam is no name at all for us — it should 
be Aunt Elizabeth." I decided, however, not to speak 



WAR CLOSE AT HAND 631 

this, thinking it might sound undignified, and unworthy 
of so serious an occasion ; but when I got to speaking, out 
it came; and the audience liked it better than anything 
else I said. 

My article in The World's Work for February was 
written to persuade the people not to fight Germany along 
the old lines ; because I felt sure that Germany had pre- 
pared with German thoroughness to meet her enemies 
on just those lines ; so that a new line of attach was obvi- 
ously essential to success. The article was called, "The 
War's Most Important Hint to Us." The last two para- 
graphs were as follows : 

We Must Produce a Great Invention 

The overwhelming advantage that can be secured by the 
sudden and unexpected interjection into a war of some new 
mechanism, and its use in actual battle before the enemy can 
learn how to oppose it, first assumed distinct importance in the 
events of our Civil War. It has assumed still greater impor- 
tance in the present war, because of the greater importance that 
the scientific arts have now acquired. Inasmuch as the United 
States is the most inventive nation on the earth, and inasmuch 
as we may be threatened with a danger on the sea that we shall 
need all our resources to avert, the conclusion seems logical 
that we ought to try to supplement our present naval strength 
by some new invention or device that will do for us now what 
the Monitor did. 

Prominently displayed in the article was an illustra- 
tion of a torpedo-plane sinking a ship. 

Feb. 7. . . . Banquet Natl. Assn. of Manufacturers of 
Medicinal Products. Gen. Wood and I made patriotic speeches. 
A man near me, while I was making final appeal, interjected oc- 
casionally the words, ' ' damn rot, damn rot. ' ' 



CHAPTER XLII 

THE UNITED STATES DECLARES WAR AGAINST GERMANY 

ON February 12, 1917, I gave a lecture for the Aero 
Club of America in the Grand Central Palace 
on the occasion of the Pan-American Aeronautical Ex- 
position there. It described my torpedoplane and the 
uses for which it was intended. 

About this time I saw occasional suggestions in the 
press and magazines that I ought to be Secretary of the 
Navy. I can think of few positions more distasteful to 
me. If the country wanted the navy to be a navy simply, 
and not a political asset for successive administrations, 
the position of head of the navy would be attractive, 
because it would give an opportunity of doing beneficial 
and constructive work. If a navy is a political asset, a 
politician should be at the head of it. 

On Feb. 19 The Independent published an article writ- 
ten by me called, ''The Navy Needs Strategy," which 
pointed out that the greatest single cause of Germany's 
military efficiency is that in Germany the most important 
subject of thought and endeavor is strategy, while the 
word is seldom even heard in the United States, with the 
result that all our efforts at building and operating a 
navy and an army are not properly or systematically di- 
rected. We are like a man who is strong, but clumsy, and 
not able to contend against a trained pugilist. 

Mar. 18. Sunday. . . . I gave Aero Club a memorandum 
saying battleplanes best defense now. 

At this time, I was sure that we would be at war 
with Germany in a very short time. As we were not yet 
at war, I could not intimate that the aeroplanes were to 

632 



LETTER URGING USE OF BATTLE PLANES 633 

be used against Germany, and so I spoke of them gener- 
ally in connection with national defense. 

Some of the paragraphs of my memorandum read as 
follows : 

My life in the navy brought me into intimate contact with 
all the advances in naval construction, from the little Saratoga 
in which I made my first cruise as cadet midshipman, to the 
superdreadnought Florida, which was my last flagship. The 
military value of concentration was, of course, impressed un- 
ceasingly upon me ; and with it a realization of the fact that the 
main aim of strategy and tactics is to bring a preponderating 
force to bear on a given point before the enemy can prevent it. 
To do this we need concentration of power in as few units as 
possible and ahility to move these units as rapidly as possible. 
Power and mobility are the prime agencies of the military 

ART. 

Now, at the present time the unit in all armies is the soldier 
and his musket. We seem tied down to that slow and feeble 
little unit. But, are we really? The navy seemed tied down to 
the little sailing frigate; so much so that, even after the Moni- 
tor's achievements in our civil war, we returned to the sailing 
frigate. The competition of nations, however, forced us to take 
up larger units; and now we have the Pennsylvania. 

Is there no way in which this great inventive and constructive 
nation can get some more powerful and mobile unit than the 
soldier and his rifle? Can we not get more defensive useful- 
ness out of the intelligent collegian, technician and chauffeur 
than by marching him in a regiment with a little musket in his 
hands? Is there no device by means of which large units of 
power can be carried, which is not subject to the limitations of 
speed and size that restrict a land battle ship to small dimensions ? 

Yes, and that device is now being used in Europe after having 
been designed and manufactured in the United States. It is 
called the battleplane. Such a device recently carried twenty- 
seven passengers; and another, an air cruiser, carried 3,500 
pounds of crew and equipment. Some of the largest battle- 
planes are being constructed in the United States; and one of 
the aeroplane manufacturers states that he can easily build a 
battleplane capable of carrying and launching a full size torpedo 
weighing 2,500 pounds. 



634 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

The size and power of the aeroplane has already gone far 
beyond the limits set for its possible development by certain 
engineers only three years ago. The practical difficulties of 
making it larger still are quite apparent; yet, nevertheless, no 
theoretical limits to its size and power have yet been accepted 
by aeronauts. That the aeroplane is now the best single weapon 
against the submarine is conceded. That the aeroplane, and 
especially the battleplane, will rapidly advance in size and 
power within the coming year and afterward, is the mature be- 
lief of many aeronauts. Should we not therefore immediately 
investigate its capabilities not only as a scout and accessory, but 
as a major instrument of warfare? 

I do not suggest the abolition of the soldier and his musket, 
but neither do I suggest the abolition of the boat pulled by the 
oars of rowers, I merely suggest that, as the boat pulled by 
rowers was superseded for large operations by the sailing ship, 
and as the sailing ship was superseded by the more mobile 
steamer with broadside guns, and as this type of warship was 
superseded by the turret ship, and as the turret ship has been 
expanded into the superdreadnought, so the soldier and his mus- 
ket may be superseded, for important operations, by the im- 
measurably more powerful and mobile battleplane. 

If so, the more quickly we act the better. "Hindenburg 
never sleeps." 

Mar. 19. . . . N. Y. Herald publishes my battleplane memo- 
randum in full; Tribune, Sun and American publish about Ys 
of it ; also Eve. Telegram and Eve. Sun. 

Mar. 20. ... I received letter from Sec. Nav. forbidding me 
to make any address without his permission. 

Sometime before this I had been elected a trustee of 
The American Defense Society. I accepted the position 
with great alacrity, because I had become much impressed 
with the purity of aim of the society, and the excellent 
work it was doing in arousing the patriotic spirit of the 
country. The trustees were to have a luncheon on March 
20, and I was asked to prepare an address to the trustees, 
setting forth my views as to the possibility of our im- 
proving the national defense by building up naval and 
military aeronautics. I had prepared a brief memo- 



FORBIDDEN TO MAKE ANY ADDRESS 635 

randum, and was about to start downtown to attend the 
luncheon when I received the Secretary's letter. So 
when I was called upon to speak at the luncheon, I told 
the trustees of the prohibition. The trustees were in- 
dignant, and gave out to the press an announcement 
which was published in most of the papers the following 
morning. 

Mar. 21. N. Y. Eve. Sun has editorial, headed ''War on Ad- 
miral Fiske. " . . . Mr. Herbert L. Satterlee persuaded me to 
prepare speech for Navy League meeting in eve. of Mar. 27 and 
ask See. to approve it. I consented and mailed proposed ad- 
dress to Dept. Meeting in Chamber of Commerce abandoned, 
due to my not being able to speak because of gag. Letter from 
Cronan says Sypher told him in Manila that he took my letter 
Nov. 9, 1914, from files by X's orders and gave it to X. So X 
is the man! 

Mar. 25. ... I am making a Torpedoplane and asking to be 
permitted to continue at this work, etc. . . . The Conference 
Preparedness Committee has ordered one of my books, "The 
Navy as a Fighting Machine," to be sent to each Senator and 
each Representative, with a personal inscription on the fly leaf 
of each book ! I give up my 30 cents royalty on each book, and 
the publishers give up a similar profit. Sec. Guy of N. Y. Elect. 
Society went to Wash, to persuade Sec. to let me speak before 
N. Y. Electrical Society. 

Mar, 26. Telegram from W. H. Stayton of Navy League in 
Washington says "Department has just notified me that your 
speech was approved and mailed to you this morning. 

I had written my speech quite hastily, at Mr. Satterlee 's 
request, and I did not really believe that the Secretary 
would permit me to deliver it, though it seemed to me to 
contain nothing which was at all heterodox or which 
would give any offense to any one. I knew that a declara- 
tion of war would come in a few days, and I also knew 
that the people of the country misapprehended the situa- 
tion entirely. The utterances of even our greatest men, 
the editorials in even the best newspapers, the remarks 
that were made in private conversation, and the conversa- 



636 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

tions I heard on the streets and in public places, all 
showed me that the American people felt no doubt of 
the success of the Allies. I felt sure that many of them, 
even some who were supposed to be ** statesmen," be- 
lieved not only that victory was to perch on the banners 
of the Allies, but also that it was going to perch there 
soon. 

I was so fully convinced that the Allies were going to 
lose that it took me some time to realize how thoroughly 
the great body of the public held the contrary belief. In 
my private conversations with intimate friends I told 
them what I believed, under the pledge of secrecy, and I 
was called a pro-German as my reward. But I could not 
possibly see how the Allies had any reasonable chance in 
view of the proved disgraceful incompetence of Russia, 
which had been whipped by little Japan only eleven years 
before, and of the pacifist-ridden condition of Great 
Britain and France. The only two factors that seemed 
worth counting on were the magnificent navy of Great 
Britain, which could not get at the German Navy and 
the magnificent army of France, which, magnificent as it 
was, was not so good as the army of Germany. And I 
knew that even the magnificent navy of Great Britain 
and the magnificent army of France were not directed, in 
the most important matters, by naval and military 
strategists, but by politicians. 

The day after receiving Stayton's telegram, I showed 
a copy of what I had prepared to Mr. Satterlee and 
Colonel Robert M. Thompson, president of the Navy 
League. I told them that I much preferred not to make 
the speech, because my wife was very ill at home that 
day, and I did not want to leave her. They seemed a 
little doubtful, and asked to see w^hat I had prepared. 
When I handed it to them, I said I did not want to make 
the speech, in any event, if it was like the other speeches 
that were to be made. They both assured me in the most 
emphatic way that nobody had prepared anything like 
mine ; and one of them said in a voice that trembled : 



SPEECH BEFORE NAVY LEAGUE 637 

"But, my God! Admiral, you don't believe that Ger- 
many has a better chance than the Allies, do youT' 

"Yes," I said, "but perhaps I had better not say so. 
I think I had better not make the speech at all. ' ' 

These gentlemen and some others who were present, 
however, assured me that what they wanted to know, and 
what they wanted me to tell the audience, was exactly 
what I thought; that I knew more about it than any- 
body else, etc. So I decided to make the address, but 
to soften some declarations a little. 

Certain paragraphs were as follows: 

The war itself has been going on for nearly two years and 
eight months, and the hard military fact is that the Teutons seem 
to he ahead so far. Perhaps few people will dispute the state- 
ment that the chances are at least even that, when the treaty of 
peace is signed, Germany will be better situated relatively to the 
rest of Europe than she was before the war, and that she may 
bring about a condition such that she will be allowed to send her 
fleet to this side. 

If Germany is beaten our whole danger will pass away, for 
the present. But as the chances seem at least even that she will 
not be beaten, we must visualize the fact that her fleet is twice as 
powerful as ours. The superiority in ships, etc., was not quite 
so great as two to one when the war started, but it was greater 
than two to one in number of trained officers and men and or- 
ganization and strategical skill. 

In the summer of 1913, the German fleet carried out ma- 
noeuvres of a kind that we shall not be able to carry out until 
our battle-cruisers shall have been drilled in our fleet, that is, 
not before 1920! The German manoeuvres were not secret, of 
course ; manoeuvres of such magnitude must be performed in the 
sight of all men. 

We are more behind in aeronautics than in any other thing. 
But, gentlemen, while aeronautics is the weakest place in our 
defence, aeronautics is the one bright spot in the whole situation. 

The battleplane is the most modem instrument of war, more 
modern than the submarine. It combines the prime military ele- 
ments of power and mobility in a higher degree than does any 
other weapon used on land, and, if used in sufficient numbers, 



638 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

it can direct an attack on a fleet, especially on the light vessels of 
a fleet, which they have not yet learned to answer. . . . There 
would be no trouble in this country of one hundred million peo- 
ple in getting the aviators to handle the battleplanes ; and I am 
informed on excellent authority that there would be no real dif- 
ficulty in getting the necessary machines and training the per- 
sonnel to handle them in six months. 

As we were not at war with Germany then, I had to 
be careful to confine my remarks to the general subject 
of the national defense. 

The speech was well received by the audience, some- 
what to my surprise. I saw no adverse comments on 
it in the newspapers, except one in the New York World; 
but I could see from the attitude of my friends, and from 
occasional guarded comments in newspapers, that my 
estimate of the situation was not accepted at all, and that 
it created considerable irritation. Some of my friends 
accused me in a friendly way of being pro-German, and 
told me it was impossible that the Germans should over- 
come the Allies. But in a very few months they saw that 
I was right : some of my friends told me so. The visit of 
the British and French and Italian missions to this coun- 
try shortly after we declared war, and the outspoken 
statements of those missions as to the dangerous condi- 
tion of the Allies, opened their eyes with a jerk to the 
real condition of affairs. Their realization of the true 
situation became clearer after we had entered into the 
war, and people began to fear that we had delayed our aid 
too long. 

Mar. 28. All N. Y. papers give headlines and plenty of space 
to my speech. At 9, I received my speech back from Sec. dis- 
approved! I telephoned to Operations explaining about tele- 
gram from Stayton, and requesting it be explained to Sec. I 
telegraphed to Stayton, asking him also to explain. Guy tele- 
phoned Sec. refused permission for me to deliver my speech, 
"The Mind of the Navy," to Elec. Society. I shall not attend 
the meeting tonight. 



THE UNITED STATES DECLARES WAR 639 

I received a letter from Stayton, reiterating in the most 
positive terms the statement he made in his telegram. 

Mar. 29. Quite a demonstration at Elec. Society last night 
because I could not speak, and all N. Y, papers comment ad- 
versely on the fact. I got letter from Sec. asking why I had 
spoken (before Nayy League), etc. I answered, explaining. 
. . . Broke promise to go and speak before Ladies' Special Aid 
Society, by reason of Secretary's action. 

Mar. 30. Special Aid Society made official protest to Sec. 
about my muzzling, and N. Y. papers devote several inches to it. 
Broke promise to speak before Aero Club, since I am forbidden. 
I understand club is indignant. 

Apr. 6. . . . U. S. declared war today against Germany. 
U. S. caught unprepared again! - 

As a naval officer I had no right to concern myself with 
the wisdom or unwisdom of our entering the war. But 
as a naval officer of experience I could not help deploring 
the fact that we were unprepared when we did enter it. 
For any man to be caught unprepared by any of the ordi- 
nary happenings of private life is considered a mark of 
inefficiency. We all know men who are always a little 
behind time, who never see a thing coming until they are 
hit by it, who seem to have no foresight. Such men never 
succeed in managing their own affairs, and are continu- 
ally getting into trouble of one kind or another. We 
see the same thing in the doings of organizations and of 
nations. History is full of accounts of disasters, like 
the fall of Babylon, when a great government has fallen 
before the attack of warlike savages simply because of 
its own short-sightedness and inefficiency in regard to 
such a history-old event as the coming of a war. In 
many cases the inefficiency has been due at bottom to 
effeminacy, -caused by too great wealth, and the conse- 
quent lack of the rugged virtues. 

For several years previous to the war in Europe the 
United States had been following Babylon along the road 
to ruin, and at great speed. One commanding figure 



640 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

warned the people of the danger and tried to rouse their 
manliness, but with small success — Theodore Roosevelt. 
He was only one man, and on the side opposed to him 
was a vast army of pacifists and women, headed by the 
Secretary of State. I heard him (the Secretary) declare 
in a speech in Baltimore, on September 12, 1914, six weeks 
after the war had started, that a new era of peace was 
dawning ! 

People sometimes say a democracy cannot be efiicient. 
Why? I do not see why a democracy should be any less 
efficient than an autocracy, and I see many reasons why 
it should be more efficient. By autocracies I mean 
hereditary autocracies. Any hereditary government is 
limited in its efficiency by the degree of efficiency of the 
hereditary monarch; and the monarch remains at the 
head of the government all his life, and can exercise all 
his life the power of a monarch, and be influenced all his 
life by his court, an influence which has usually been bad. 
In a democracy, on the other hand, the ruler is elected; 
and for this reason he must almost necessarily be a man 
of ability. Being elected for a comparatively brief 
period, and being confronted with the necessity of re- 
turning to his previous status of private citizen after his 
term of service shall have expired, he is not so inde- 
pendent of popular opinion as a monarch is, and there- 
fore tries more diligently to do his duty. It is true that 
democracies are sometimes inefficient, but it is also true 
that autocracies are frequently inefficient. If a democ- 
racy is inefficient at any time, it is the fault of the 
people in the democracy at that time, and not the fault 
of democracy. All governments are sometimes efficient 
and sometimes inefficient. The republic of the Athenian 
cities was very efficient in the Persian Wars, but it soon 
afterward became inefficient and never became efficient 
again. The Republic of France was very efficient under 
the Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Empire of 
France was very efficient under Napoleon the Great, but 
very inefficient under Napoleon III. The Republic of 



THE UNITED STATES DECLARES WAR 641 

the United States was inefficient during the four years 
when James Buchanan was President, but exceedingly 
efficient during the seven years when Theodore Roosevelt 
was President. This was because Theodore Roosevelt 
was President. 

I have no taste for war. I believe that war is due to 
the sinful passions of men, and is caused mainly by sordid 
desires for luxury and ease; and that while war itself 
may not be an unmixed evil, the causes which lead to war 
represent everything evil that is in our nature. But if a 
nation does go to war, it ought to go to war prepared. 
It is disgraceful to be caught unprepared. Much as we 
abhor the methods of the German Government in using 
its good army and navy to further its own bad schemes, 
we must in frankness admit that when she did go to war, 
the effectiveness at once displayed was unprecedented 
and magnificent. The entry of British Navy and of the 
German Army into the war equalled in grandeur any feat 
ever performed by civilized men. The foresight, the 
readiness, the precision, the courage, the efficiency with 
which they started instantly to work have a right to our 
honest admiration; — and we ought to be honest enough 
to give it. 

Did the United States step forth onto the stage of war 
with the same magnificent stride? Or did we step on 
the stage like an actor who has not learned his part, and 
who has not got his costume ready? 

This is the country of George Washington. Would 
he have admired the way in which the country of which 
he is called the father stepped upon the stage? Would 
he have been ashamed of his child? I think so. 



CHAPTER XLIII 

AERONAUTICS IN WAR 

DURINGr the preceding year I had come to have a 
feeling of great respect for the Aero Club of Amer- 
ica, and especially for its leading men, Alan R. Hawley, 
Henry A. Wise Wood, and Henry Woodhouse. I had 
gradually realized that they had done more for aero- 
nautics than any other men in the United States, except 
of course the late Professor Langley and the two Wright 
brothers, and that they had the confidence of the people. 
At one time the growing influence of the club had in- 
curred the antagonism of politicians, who accused them 
of having sordid aims, and had tickled the sense of humor 
of conservatives, who called them crazy. But even these 
detractors had now been cured of open opposition, and 
the public at large had gradually realized that the Aero 
Club was pure in its intentions, and that they saw things 
which other people did not see, simply because their eyes 
were higher above the ground. 

Having held the opinion for more than a year that, 
in our actual condition of unpreparedness, aeronautics 
could supply greater naval and military power than any 
other agency, and do it more quickly, I suggested infor- 
mally to individual governors of the club that the club 
should urge sending a large aeroplane force to Europe 
immediately. My suggestion created considerable sur- 
prise, but Mr. Hawley, Mr. Wood, and Mr. Woodhouse 
accepted it almost at once. After a little propaganda 
work, I then wrote a formal letter to the club. 

My letter and the consequent resolution of the gover- 
nors read as follows: 

S42 



AERONAUTICS IN WAE 643 

New York, N. Y., 16 April, 1917. 
Mr. Alan R. Hawley, President, 
Aero Club of America, 
New York, N. Y. 
My dear Mr. Hawley : 

I beg leave to suggest that the Aero Club point out the ad- 
visability of sending to Europe a large unit of aeroplanes, with 
trained aviators and appropriate armament. 

One thousand battleplanes, armed with rapid-fire guns, bombs, 
and torpedoes, would constitute a combination of power, mo- 
bility, and control at least equal to that of a hundred thousand 
soldiers armed with muskets, and they could be more readily 
transported across the ocean and put to useful work in Europe. 
I am aware of the difficulties of constructing so great a num- 
ber of large machines ; but for such work the genius of our peo- 
ple and the number and equipment of our factories are especially 
adapted. 

Sincerely yours, 

B. A. FisKE, 
Rear Admiral, U. S. N., Retired. 

Copy of resolution adopted by the board of governors 
of the Aero Club of America at a meeting held on the six- 
teenth of April, 1917 : 

Resolved, That the Board of Governors of the Aero Club of 
America endorse the suggestion of Rear Admiral Bradley A. 
Fiske, that the American Government send to the Front as soon 
as possible a fully equipped aeronautic unit of a thousand avi- 
ators, allowing three machines for each aviator, as being the best 
means in our opinion to quickly render the most effective service 
to the Allies. 

My letter was published in the New York Tribune, 
World, and many other papers on April 19. 

Apr. 29. Congress passed Conscription Bill by a heavy ma- 
jority! How we plunge from one extreme to the other! And 
how we will spend money by the tub full, instead of having spent 
it in a reasonable way during the past 20 years ! . What a lot of 
money Bryan, Carnegie & the rest have already cost the country, 
(for which they themselves will never be made to suffer) 



644 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

& what a lot of blood their propaganda will entail ! My prophe- 
cies are coming true. It is silly to defer getting ready until 
after war has begun. Now for confusion. 

May 3. . . . Morn, papers publish statement by Br. Admiralty 
that Br. s. s. Gena was sunk by a torpedo discharged by a Ger- 
man aeroplane ! So. This is exceedingly important, and shows 
my invention that I call Torpedoplane is being added to sub- 
marine to sink ships ! 

The statement in the New York Times read as follows : 

GERMAN SEAPLANE TORPEDOES AND SINKS A BRITISH SHIP 

London, May 2. The Admiralty announces that the British 
steamer Gena, of 2,784 tons, was sunk May 1 by a torpedo dis- 
charged from a German seaplane off Aldeburg (Suffolk, Eng- 
land). 

Two German torpedoplanes cooperated in this work. 
One was brought down by gun-fire. A sketch published 
later showed that the mechanism for launching the tor- 
pedo was identical with that described and illustrated in 
my patent application. 

The Popular Science Monthly for May published a 
brief article by me in regard to the torpedoplane. The 
Monthly called this article, "Defending America with 
Torpedoplanes," and illustrated it on the inside of the 
magazine with three striking pictures, one of which 
showed a successful attack by torpedoplanes on a column 
of battle-ships. On the front page of the cover of the 
magazine was an excellent, though highly colored, picture 
of a large triplane dropping a torpedo. 

May 9. . . , Park Benjamin has fine article in Independent 
on -'Fiske Torpedoplane." 

May 10. . . . Tribune has 1st column first page headed, 
"Vast War Machine Lacks Motive Power." It lacks rather 
directive power; no one knows what is needed to be done — 
every one simply wants to do something on a big scale. Gave 
Benjamin sketch for device so air craft can hear submarine 
sounds, and told him make application for patent. 

May 14, . . . Century Co. & Henry Woodhouse ask me to 



AERONAUTICS IN WAH 645 

write introduction to his new book on * ' Naval Aeronautics. ' ' I 
agreed. 

May 18. My dear mother's birthday. 

May 19. Went down to Keyport, N. J., with Prest. Hawley & 
Henry Woodhouse of Aero Club, and inspected new plant of 
Aeromarine Co. Prest. Uppercu offered a seaplane & pilot to 
test torpedoplane ! 

May 21. . . . Council Nat. Defence announced that start will 
begin on Big Aeronautic Program very soon — 3500 aeroplanes 
first year, etc., & that regular stream of aviators will flow to 
help Allies. What an indictment of Ante-War unpreparedness ; 
& what an endorsement of my recommendation on March 18 to 
Aero Club to build battleplanes, & of April 16 to send 1000 
aeroplanes to Europe & my recommendation to Am. Defense 
Society to send seaplanes to Europe to preserve England's food 
supply ! 

May 27. ... A book called "Naval Aeronautics" written by 
Henry Woodhouse is to be published next month by Century Co. 
I have written the 3d and 4th chapters and the "Foreword." 

May 29. ... I called on Comdr. J. D. J. Kelley (retired), 
on editorial staff N. Y. Herald, showed him Admiral Sir Regi- 
nald Custance's letter in London Times of May 9, 1917, & said I 
thought Germany's submarines could be stopped from coming 
out of German ports by British watercraft (small) going into & 
running shallow waters near German coast & countermining the 
mines, if German warships could be kept off from the British 
small water craft, and that they could be kept off by say 100 
torpedoplanes ! Kelley was seemingly much impressed, & said 
he would take up the matter in N. Y. Herald. I said I wished 
he would: as I felt a delicacy as to doing it, being the inventor. 

May 31. Morning papers publish long accounts of how Ger- 
many stole my torpedoplane, etc., and sank Oena. . . . N. Y. 
Tribune has column headed, "X (mentioning name of former 
Aid for Material) May Command Atlantic Fleet." 

This column was written by Mr. C. W. Gilbert, from 
Washington, and said that the navy was very much 
aroused by this possibility, not because X was of Ger- 
man parentage, but because, in the controversy between 
Secretary Daniels and me, X, aid for material then, 
took the secretary's side. One of the paragraphs read: 



646 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

When it was all over, Fiske was more or less rusticated, and 
X went up swiftly from a captain's position to a full admiral's 
job at the head of the Asiatic fleet. In a word, X is what 
Fiske was not, a diplomat, and used his diplomacy in ways the 
navy despised. Daniels loved him and the navy loved him not. 

June 1. Secretary denies X is to be C. in C. Atlantic Fleet. 
N. Y. Herald has fine editorial on my torpedoplane. 

June 3. Sunday. Herald publishes letter from Park Benja- 
min saying Dept. was repeating history, in treating me as it had 
done in matter of torpedoplane. N. Y. World publishes letter 
from London of May 20, saying the use of torpedo from German 
seaplane was really an old idea, that British naval officers had 
experimented on the device in latter part of 1913 & in 1914, 
etc., etc. ! This ignores the fact that it was an Americam, inven- 
tion, and that Army and Navy Journal published a detailed ac- 
count of my patent of July 16, 1912, on June 28, 1913, & that the 
Times copied it — substantially — the next day ! ! 

June 4. N. Y. Herald has my article (unsigned) with chart 
of Zeebrugge, etc., headed "Torpedoplane Valuable Weapon to 
Hold U-Boats at Their Bases." 

This article discussed the value of torpedoplanes for 
torpedoing submarines before they could get into deep 
waters and thus keeping them from leaving their bases. 

June 7. . . . Making crude experiments as to making ships, 
aeroplanes, etc., etc., invisible by covering them with mirrors. 

On June 7th, Land and Water of London, England, pub- 
lished my article, ''The Nelson Touch." This article 
was an appreciation of Nelson both as an officer and a 
man. 

June 9th. . . . North American Review asks me to write arti- 
cle on "What the navy ought to do and can do." I do not see 
how I can write anything not distinctly critical — & so I do not 
think I shall do it. N. Y. Sun says Sec. War Baker will send 
100,000 aviators to Europe. Nonsense. He is merely follow- 
ing my lead & trying to go me one better. 

June 13. My 63d birthday. Adm. Peary gave splendid tes- 
timony as to paramount value of aircraft in present war, neces- 
sity of sending large numbers of aviators to Europe, etc., etc. 



AERONAUTICS IN WAR 647 

Papers also say War Dept. is going to send 1000 aviators a 
month to France! Letter from Cronan says I may quote him 
as to Sypher's telling him he took my letter from Dept. files and 
gave it to X, Aid for Material. This was Unpreparedness letter. 

June 14. , . . N. Y. Tribune has editorial headed, "Investi- 
gate," which ends with a recommendation that Sec. Daniels in- 
vestigate how "famous Fiske letter was lost," etc. 

June 15. . . . H. E. Coffin testified before Senate Military 
Committee that 600 million dollars will be needed for air craft 
— that we should put our main effort there, etc. I made this 
proposition to Aero Club about April 13, & it was endorsed by 
Board of Governors on April 16, sent to Prest., Cabinet Officers 
and Council National Defense & published in morning papers on 
April 19. Wrote letter to Prest. Hawley, proposing air attack 
on Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. 

This letter read as follows : 

June 15, 1917. 

Referring to my letter to you of April 16th, 1917, in which I 
suggested sending to Europe a large unit of aeroplanes with 
trained aviators and appropriate armament; referring also to 
the favorable endorsement of this letter by the Board of Gover- 
nors of April 16th, and referring also to the present proposition 
of the Aircraft Production Board of the Council of National 
Defense, which proposes similar action on a very large scale, I 
beg leave to submit to your attention the following facts : 

1. By far the most immediate and alarming danger in the pres- 
ent situation is the menace to the food supply of England and 
France that is caused by the German submarine. 

2. The most effective foe to the submarine is the aircraft; for 
flying over the long distances that seaplanes must traverse, 
considerable size and power are required. 

3. The British torpedoplanes which sank four Turkish ships in 
the Sea of Marmora in August, 1915, were of considerable 
size and power; the German torpedoplanes which sank the 
British steamer Gena off the coast of England May 1, 1917, 
were also of considerable size and power. 

4. The success of this attack without doubt encourages the Ger- 
mans to develop the torpedoplane. 

5. The German Naval General Staff realize the value of concen- 
tration of power and mobility in as large units as possible. 



648 FKOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

6. The torpedoplane embodies a greater concentration of power 
and mobility than does any other mechanism; for its cost, 
the torpedoplane is the most powerful and mobile weapon 
which exists at the present day. 

7. An attack by a large number of German torpedoplanes armed 
with guns to defend themselves from fighting aeroplanes 
would be a powerful menace to the British fleet. 

8. An attack by Allied torpedoplanes armed with guns to defend 
themselves from fighting aeroplanes would be a powerful 
menace to the German fleet, and if made in sufficient numbers, 
would give the Allies such unrestricted command of the North 
Sea, even of the shallow parts near the German coast, that 
German submarines would be prevented from coming out from 
German ports, the submarine menace abolished, and all chance 
of German success wiped out. 

I beg leave also to point out that an inspection of the map ot 
Europe shows that in air raids over the land, the strategical ad- 
vantage lies with Germany, because her most important towns, 
like Berlin, are farther inland than the most important towns of 
the Allies, like London ; so that aeroplanes of the Allies in order 
to reach Berlin would have to fly over greater distances while 
exposed to the fire of other aeroplanes than do aeroplanes of the 
Germans in going to London. For raids on naval vessels, how- 
ever, the strategical advantage lies with the Allies because their 
control of the deep parts of the North Sea enables them to estab- 
lish a temporary aeronautical base of mother ships sufficiently 
close to the German fleet to enable the British to launch a tor- 
pedoplane attack from it on the German fleet in Kiel and Wil- 
helmshaven, while the Germans could not possibly establish an 
aeronautical base sufficiently close to the British fleet. This 
gives the Allies the great advantage of the offensive. It would 
be possible, provided a distinct effort is made, for the Allies to 
send a large number of aeroplane mother ships to a point say 50 
miles west of Heligoland ; and for a large force of fighting aero- 
planes and torpedoplanes to start from this place about two hours 
before dawn, reach Kiel Bay and Wilhelmshaven about dawn, 
attack the German fleets there, and sink the German ships. The 
distance from Heligoland to Kiel is about ninety land miles, and 
to Wilhelmshaven about forty-five. 

Of course, the attack would be resisted by German aeroplanes, 
and fighting would be needed ; but no war up to the present time 



AERONAUTICS IN WAR 649 

has been decided except by fighting, and in the present case, the 
Allies, now that the United States has joined them, could unques- 
tionably put an overwhelming number of aeroplanes into the 
battle. 

I beg leave to also call your attention to the fact that : 

(a) The successful attacks made by the Confederate ironclad 
Merrimac at Hampton Roads initiated a menace to the 
United States that caused terror through the North ; 

(b) That this menace was obliterated twenty-four hours later 
by the Monitor; 

(c) That unless the Monitor had appeared, the Merrimac could 
have prevented the blockade of the southern coast, and 
therefore the collapse of the Confederacy; 

(d) That not only did the Monitor save the United States, but it 
saved the United States because it appeared in time; 

(e) That, if the Monitor's appearance had been deferred even 
one month, it would probably have been too late. 

I beg leave to recommend that the Aero Club bring this matter 
to the attention of the proper persons. I need not say that the 
means I suggest should be merely additional to all other means, 
now used and proposed. 

(Signed) Bradley A. Fiske, 
Rear Admiral, U. S. N., Retired. 

June 17. . . . N. Y. Sun has about 1500 words about the value 
of my torpedoplane. 

June 18. . . . N. Y. morning papers say Prest. will ask for six 
hundred million dollars for aeroplanes, etc., and Sec. of War 
Baker endorses plan to send large force of aviators to Europe, 
following plan I proposed to Aero Club on Apr. 16, which was 
published in papers Apr. 19 ! 

Apr. 19. N. Y. Herald is launching a big boom for American 
Aerial Supremacy, especially in hydroaeroplanes. 

June 20. ... I went out to Army Aviation field at Mineola, 
with Prest. Hawley of Aero Club, Woodhouse, and a dozen 
young French army aviators who have come to U. S. to teach our 
aviators. Then I attended meeting of Board of Governors of 
Aero Club, who considered my letter of June 15 to Prest. Haw- 
ley, endorsed it heartily, resolved to send copies to Congress & 
to give it to the press. Their resolution also recognized the fact 
that the present movement to send a large unit of aeroplanes. 



650 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

etc., to Europe was in accordance with, my proposal in my letter 
to Prest. Hawley, of April 16, 1917, which was approved by 
Governors, & published in newspapers on April 19 ! 

June 23. . . . New York morning papers (except Sun) pub- 
lish my letter of June 15 to Aero Club in which I recommend a 
hig squadron of torpedoplanes, to attack Kiel & Wilhelmshaven. 

June 24. . . . N. Y. Herald & Times have fine Aeronautical 
cartoons ; other papers also show great interest. 

June 25. . . . N. Y. Times has brief minor editorial in favor 
of my Kiel attack suggestion. 

June 28. N. Y. Times has an editorial a column long, headed 
"The Torpedoplane" that is favorable in the highest way. 

June 29. Carrie's birthday. . . . Wrote letter to Prest. Aero 
Club insisting on Air attack in Kiel, Wilhelmshaven, etc. 

My letter read as follows : 

New York, June 27th, 1917. 
My dear Mr. Hawley: 

Referring to my previous letters to you, which pointed out 
that the United States could give more effective aid to the Allies 
by means of aircraft than by any other means ; referring to the 
statements that public officials have made during the last two 
weeks, which show a general approval of this idea ; referring also 
to the fact that more attention has been attracted to the employ- 
ment of aircraft over the land than to their employment over 
the water, I beg leave to state that in my opinion a grave mis- 
take is being made in overlooking the importance of aerial oper- 
ations against the German fleet and U-boat bases. 

My opinion is based on the following considerations: 

1. The danger on the sea threatens the Allies more immedi- 
ately, vitally and intimately — than does the danger on the 
land, because it involves the commerce of the entire world and 
threatens soon to stop their supply of actual food and fuel. 
The danger on the land, great as it is, is not so great as it is 
on the sea, because it would take a longer time in which to 
bring about disaster and because the disaster would be more 
restricted as to locality and amount. 

2. Although major operations on both land and sea are now 
practicable with aircraft, no successes on land which can rea- 
sonably be expected within the next twelve months would 



AERONAUTICS IN WAR 651 

weaken Germany much, whereas a successful attack on her 
fleet would ruin her. 

Such an attack could be made within the next six months if 
adequate energy were employed. 

3, A torpedo discharged from a torpedoplane at a ship has 
the whole length and underwater body of the ship as a target 
and is fired under conditions practically identical with the 
conditions under which it is fired from a destroyer ; so that it 
is fired under the conditions for which it has been developed 
and in which naval officers have been trained. This means 
that if a torpedo is fired at a ship from a given distance it has 
a much greater chance of hitting that ship than would a bomb 
dropped from a height equal to that distance. Conversely, 
with any given chance of hitting, the torpedo could be dis- 
charged from a much greater distance than the height from 
which a bomb could be dropped. 

I beg leave also to call your attention to the persistent demand 
of a large section of the British public, headed by Mr. Winston 
Spencer Churchill, for an attack against the German fleet. Up 
to the present time the British Admiralty has not thought that a 
successful attack could be made by naval vessels. In my opinion 
a successful attack could be made, with the assistance of tor- 
pedoplanes. 

It is a matter of common knowledge that the oil supply of 
the British fleet is so seriously threatened that the use of her 
newest and best vessels, which burn oil exclusively, may soon 
become impossible. Before the shortage of oil becomes so great 
as actually to cripple the fleet would it not be wise to venture an 
attack, backed up by an overwhelming force of torpedoplanes, 
which contribute that freedom from danger from mines and sub- 
marines, which is the only element of success that is lacking now ? 
In my judgment, this demands serious and prompt consideration. 
I respectfully request that you bring this urgent question to 
the attention of the proper persons. 

(Signed) B. A. Fiske, 
Rear Admiral, U. S. N., Retired. 

June 30. All N. Y. a. m. papers except Times published my 
letter, in full or in part. . . . Mr. H. F. Price wants to get up 
organization p.d.q. to manufacture torpedoplanes, inasmuch as 
Navy Dept. will not. 



652 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

July 2. . . , Park Benjamin has fine article in Independent on 
"Third Dimension in War," saying my torpedoplane is only 
remedy for submarine, etc. 

July 3. . . . Arthur Pollen made speech in Washington last 
night, in which he declared subm. danger is the greatest peril 
and that all depends on us and Br. navies, and on the "head- 
ship" of those two navies! 

July 5, ... A. H. Pollen made long speech at Sherry's 
last night (I was there) in which he said no solution of U-boat 
problem is in sight, Admiralty has failed thus far, and U, S. 
must contribute a plan! So far as I know, I am the only one on 
the Allies' side io contribute any plan whatever. The Allies 
have simply fought a defensive war on lines laid down by Ger- 
many. 

July 7. I went to Huntington Bay with Mr. Hawley and Mr. 
Woodhouse and inspected Navy Aviation Station there, the ex- 
penses of which are paid by private parties ! ! ! 

July 8. . . . N. Y. Times has editorial "Get the Aeroplanes 
Ready." 

July 10. . . . Herald says Sec. Nav. now asks for 45 millions 
for naval aeronautics ! Gosh. ... If he had only followed my 
urgent recommendations to develop aeronautics when I was Aid 
for Operations, and his official military adviser ! If he had only 
refrained from smashing the Division of Aeronautics that I had 
built up with so much labor ! 

Believing as I bad done for seven years that aero- 
nautics was to hold a tremendously important part in 
warfare, and realizing that everything which I had pre- 
viously believed and urged regarding aeronautics had 
been more than verified by the events of the war in Eu- 
rope, I noted with a stupefied feeling the fact that even 
after the United States had entered into the war the 
navy virtually ignored aeronautics. The action of the 
Secretary and Admiral Benson in their testimonies be- 
fore Congress in 1916, belittling the advantages of aero- 
nautics, were amazing enough to a man who felt as I 
did; but to note that no action was taken even after we 
had entered the war, was to feel that I was crazy or that 
some one else was. When we entered the war, the secre- 



AERONAUTICS IN WAR 653 

tary of the navy was authorized to expend one hundred 
and fifteen million dollars to put the navy into state of 
readiness for war. I looked in the papers carefully to see 
how much of this had been expended for aeronautics, 
but I could not see that a cent of it was so spent. If this 
were not the most inventive and industrial country in the 
world, if it were not that the aeroplane was invented here, 
and if it were not that the British and German navies had 
expended enormous sums for naval aeronautics, and were 
still expending enormous sums, I might have been able 
to understand it. But under the conditions as they 
actually were I could not understand at all the inaction 
of the navy in regard to aeronautics. If any lesson has 
been taught by history more clearly than any other les- 
son, if anything has been taught by the experience of 
business and of daily life, it is that if one does not keep 
up with the procession he will he left behind. 

July 13. ... I went to Keyport, N. J., with President Haw- 
ley to see test of torpedoplane, using dummy torpedo. Two men 
were carried besides the torpedo, and the seaplane could barely 
rise. The dummy was dropped once o. k. 

July 20. N. Y. morning papers show that people at last ap- 
preciate the gravity of submarine situation. A N. Y, Herald 
reporter held interview with me, and is to send copy of inter- 
view to Sec. Navy, asking permission to publish it. 

On July 21 The Independent published an article by 
me called ''Naval Power and National Efificiency, " which 
pointed out the absolute necessity of having our war 
preparations guided by men versed in strategy. One 
sentence read, ''The conduct of war and the conduct of 
preparation for war are controlled by three agencies, 
strategy, logistics and invention." 

July 24. . . . Collier's has an article by Carl Snyder, saying 
we must down the submarine now, and saying torpedoplane is to 
be a weapon more powerful than the submarine. 

July 25. Had talk with Major Perfetti of Italian Flying 
Corps ; he said Italy and Caproni will gladly do all I want with 



654 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

the Caproni triplane now coming to U. S. This is fine : I want 
to make it into a big torpedoplane ! 

July 30. Ensign Dodge (Ret) has come from Minneapolis, 
saying he has $25,000 pledged, $75,000 more in sight, to form 
torpedoplane unit. 

Aug. 12, N. Y. Herald has picture and prophecy of useful- 
ness of the Torpedoplane. . . . N. Y. Sun of Aug. 11 had pic- 
ture Caproni triplane and prophecy of usefulness of giant aero- 
plane. Good. 

Aug. 14. Sci. American August 11 has editorial saying that 
the position of Sec. Nav. is now almost most important in the 
whole world. 

Aug. 15. Mailed to Mr. Hawley a letter as to use of powerful 
torpedoplanes, etc. 

This letter was as follows : 

Jamestown, R. I., August 15, 1917. 
My dear Mr. Hawley: 

During the past five months I have had the honor of writing 
you a number of letters, which pointed out the capabilities of 
powerful aeroplanes for offensive use in war, the advisability of 
sending a large force of aeroplanes to Europe, the paramount 
menace of the submarine and the ability of aeronautics to over- 
come that menace. 

The present war has shown such complete preparation, not 
only in material but also in strategic plan on the part of the 
Germans, and such a far-sighted view of the possibilities of sub- 
marines supported by mines and a fleet, that the desirability be- 
came obvious six months ago of replying with some unexpected 
method or device, which the Germans had not provided against 
in their plans. 

The mere killing and wounding of individual men has never 
of itself determined the result of any modem war; because the 
men who are not killed or wounded were able to keep up fighting, 
if supplied with adequate food-fuel and munitions. What has 
decided the result of every modern war has been the shutting off 
of the means of effective fighting; sometimes by stopping the 
transportation of troops, food, fuel and munitions, and some- 
times by the actual taking of the seat of government of one of 
the belligerents. In our Civil War, public attention was fastened 



AERONAUTICS IN WAR 655 

on the land battles, by reason of the number of men engaged in 
them, and the terrible destruction of life and limb. The land 
fighting kept up without decisive advantage to either side, until 
the naval blockade had seriously reduced the supplies that came 
from Europe; but as soon as the blockade had become effective 
in this way, the Confederate Army ran short of munitions and 
equipments, and could no longer fight effectively. Then the 
Confederate Army was defeated, and Richmond, the capital, lay 
defenseless before the troops of Grant. 

In our war with Spain, the operations of the Army in Cuba 
and the Philippines exercised little influence on the outcome of 
the war; but the destruction of practically the entire Spanish 
Navy at Manila and Santiago left Spain so obviously exposed 
to blockade and attack by our fleet, that Spain gave up at once. 
In the war between Russia and Japan, tens of thousands of sol- 
diers were killed and wounded in Manchuria, without apparent 
result ; but as soon as the Russian fleet was destroyed in the naval 
battle of Tsushima, the Russians saw their inability to transport 
troops and munitions to invade the island empire of Japan, no 
matter how many Japanese soldiers they killed in Manchuria; 
and so they came to terms of peace. The battle of Tsushima had 
an effect curiously like Nelson's battle of Trafalgar, which pre- 
vented Napoleon from transporting troops and munitions to 
invade the island Kingdom of Great Britain, 

In the present war, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have 
been killed and wounded in France, seemingly without effect ; but 
the German submarine, without destroying many lives in com- 
parison with the number of lives destroyed by the armies, has 
been effecting a continuous reduction in the means of transpor- 
tation by which the Allies get the food, fuel and ammunition 
which they need to prosecute the war. Thus far, the submarine 
seems to have been a more potent factor in decidipg the result of 
the war than all the armies on both sides. As in the wars just 
mentioned, it has been operations on the sea, not operations on 
land, that have been the most important factor. 

The Navy of Germany has scarcely been attacked at all, al- 
though her navy is inconsiderable in comparison with her army, 
and although, if her navy were destroyed or even crippled, Ger- 
many 's only hope of victory, the submarine, would be eliminated. 
Her navy has not been attacked, because it has been believed to 
be too heavily entrenched behind mines to justify an attack by 



656 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

sea craft. This was skillfully arranged by Germany in the light 
of conditions as they were before the war. 

But before the war, aeroplanes were small and unreliable, and 
the powerful bombing plane and torpedoplane had not shown 
their capabilities for offensive use, unhindered by mines and sub- 
marines. These weapons constitute a new and unexpected 
agency ; so that we seem forced to the serious — the very serious — 
consideration of using them against the naval ships of Germany, 
now safely entrenched behind miles of mine fields, from which 
they send forth their submarines to destroy the commerce of the 
world. 

I trust that you will agree with me in the ideas which I have 
just expressed, and that you will, whenever occasion warrants, 
bring them to the notice of influential people. Your position as 
President of the Aero Club of America, and the record of the 
Club for patriotic service of the highest order of disinterested- 
ness and efficiency, mark you as especially fitted to bring before 
the people the ability of aeronautics to assist their cause. 

With great esteem, I am. 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Bradley A. Fiske. 

Aug. 17. Letter from Lieut. McDonnell at Huntington Bay 
says my dummy torpedo was successfully dropped from aero- 
plane Aug. 14. 

Aug. 19. N. Y. Herald has full copy of my last letter 
(Aug. 15) to Mr. Hawley and Tribune has partial copy. I think 
N. Y. American has it too. 

Aug. 21. . . . Went to Torpedo Station; find officers sympa- 
thetic as to Torpedoplane and wish to help. . . . Life has article 
by T. L. Masson, "A Message from the Air," urging America 
to wake and strike Germany through the air. 

Aug. 24. Godfrey L. Cabot came from Wash, to see me and 
we talked after dinner. He brought letter of introduction from 
Senator Lodge and said he wants to help me financially and 
otherwise, to demonstrate practicability of torpedoplane. He is 
Lieutenant in U. S. Naval Flying Reserve. 

Aug. 25. Mr. Cabot signed an ''agreement," which I signed 
also, by which he obligates himself to the extent of $30,000 to get 
a * * Torpedo carrying seaplane ' ' ! This is patriotism of the first 
order! absolutely disinterested and fine! Telegram from Lord 



MY LETTER OF SEPTEMBER 9, 1917 657 

Northcliffe saying wishes to see me week after my return to 
N. Y. 

Aug, 31. Made short speech at entertainment in Newport for 
National Special Aid Society, which ended ''We are at war with 
the incarnated combination of intellect and evil : we are at war 
with the Devil himself." 

Sept. 3. Received notification from Aero Club of America 
that I have been elected a Governor ! ! ! ! . . . Engaged on article 
on Naval Strategy. My article "Air Power" comes out in 
Naval Institute. 

Sept, 7, All N. Y. papers publish substance of the announce- 
ment of Mr. Cabot's gift of $30,000 to torpedoplane develop- 
ment. 

Sept, 8. Rec'd. copy of joint patent of Bradley A. Fiske and 
Elmer A. Sperry on "Automatic Gun Pointing." N. Y. Sun 
has bully editorial headed ' ' The Monitor and the Torpedoplane, ' ' 
apropos of Mr. Cabot's gift and the fact that Ericsson— like me— 
had to get private capital to develop his invention. 

Sept. 9. Mailed letter to Sec. recommending that Navy Dept. 
take the big Caproni triplane — soon to arrive here — and develop 
a powerful torpedoplane that can carry 2500 lb. torpedo. 

This letter read as follows: 

128 West 59th Street, New York, September 9, 1917. 
From : Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, U. S. N,, Retired. 
To : The Secretary of the Navy. 
Subject: Powerful Torpedoplanes, 

(1) The attention of the Department may have been called to 
the fact published in several newspapers that Mr, Godfrey L. 
Cabot, of Boston, placed $30,000 at my disposal to be used for 
the construction of an aeroplane that could carry a torpedo 
powerful enough to sink a modem battleship. This act of Mr. 
Cabot was entirely unsolicited by me, and came as a great sur- 
prise. I had never met Mr. Cabot until he called on me and 
placed this money at my disposal about two weeks ago. 

(2) I have talked with a great many naval officers, army offi- 
cers, aviators, and other men in various walks of life about the 
torpedoplane, and they have all told me that they considered 
that the production of a torpedoplane holding a torpedo power- 
ful enough to sink a battleship would be a step of the greatest 
importance to this country. Some of them thought that a fleet 



658 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

of such torpedoplanes could successfully attack the German fleet 
at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven ; some of them thought that such a 
plan was rather risky ; but all of them thought that the torpedo- 
plane itself should be developed, either for use in Europe or for 
the protection of our own coasts. 

(3) As the Department may remember, I have been engaged 
in developing a torpedoplane suitable for attack on destroyers, 
submarines and light craft generally; and the Department is 
doubtless aware that the British sank four Turkish vessels in 
August, 1915, and that the Germans sank the British merchant 
ship Gena on May 1st, 1917. There is no instance, as far as I 
know, of any torpedoplane being developed capable of carrying 
a full size torpedo ; but I have heard well founded reports to 
the effect that the Germans were building 200 very large tri- 
planes. In view of these facts, and in view of the further fact 
that all naval experience shows the value of designing new appa- 
ratus with sufficient strength and power, the conclusion seems 
unavoidable that the development of a powerful torpedoplane 
should be undertaken as soon as practicable. 

(4) There will arrive in this country within a few days a 
Caproni triplane which seems ideal for this purpose. It is 
propelled by three motors, aggregating 600 H. P. ; and it is said to 
be able to carry three men, three machine guns, and 2750 
pounds of explosives for six hours, at a speed of nearly 80 miles 
an hour. I understand that this machine is to be sent to 
Langley Field, and that the Army is to make some tests with it. 

(5) Major Perfetti, who is at the head of the Special Italian 
Commission for Aeronautics in the United States, wrote me a 
letter in which he said that he would instruct his staff to permit 
me to make any experiments that I might desire. This was very 
courteous on his part ; but it occurs to me that the experimenta- 
tion could be carried on more efficiently by the Navy Depart- 
ment than b}^ myself. Any experimentation which I might do 
would be merely preliminary to what the Navy Department it- 
self would subsequently do, in case it decided to take up the 
torpedoplane question seriously. 

(6) I therefore venture to suggest that the Navy Depart- 
ment consider the question of fitting the Caproni triplane for 
carrying and launching a dummy torpedo weighing at least 
2500 pounds, which is the weight, approximately, of a full 
power torpedo, and of conducting experiments like those re- 



MY LETTER OF SEPTEMBER 9, 1917 659 

cently conducted at Huntington Bay with the small dummy 
torpedo. This work could easily be carried out by officers and 
men of the Navy who have been trained in aeronautics, and it 
would be of such a simple character that it would probably not 
interfere much with their regular work. 

(7) I should much appreciate a reply to this letter, giving 
the views of the Department on this matter to such an extent 
as the Department may think advisable. 

Bradley A. Fiske. 

I have never received an answer to this letter. 



s 



CHAPTER XLIV 

REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE WITHOUT TRIAL 

xiYS my diary: 



Sept. 12. By arrangement and in accordance with the 
desire expressed by Lord Northcliffe in telegram Aug. 25 I 
called on him in p. m. I stayed % hour. Very interesting man. 
He gave me copy of an article by him in World's Work and 
a confidential letter to British Government about aerial trans- 
port, written in May. Said he believed in my torpedoplane & 
bomb attack on Kiel, and said "I wish to God you could be in 
England now and stir them up. ' ' 

Sept. 14. . . . The Caproni biplane 450 H. P. flew today 
and carried 15 people, including Mayor of Norfolk. I was 
notified of my election as Honorary Member of National In- 
stitute of Inventors. Tribune publishes (from Naval Insti- 
tute) my entire article "Air Power" on editorial page. 

Sept. 17. . . . Aeromarine Plane & Motor Co telephones that 
doubtful if they can go ahead with torpedoplane because of 
contracts with Navy and Army! I fear that the attitude of 
Secretary towards me will block my efforts at bringing out 
a powerful torpedoplane. My appreciation of Admiral Luce 
is published in September number of Naval Institute. 

Sept. 18. . . . Attended lunch given by Lord Northcliffe in 
honor of Prime Minister New South Wales, Australia, 160 
guests. . . . The chief guest made a very fine speech, fortifying 
himself with a stiff drink of whisky. 

Sept. 19. . . . Meeting Governors of Aero Club. Rec'd $100 
check from Godfrey L. Cabot for travelling expenses, etc., etc. ! 

Sept. 20. At headquarters of Italian Aeronautical Commis- 
sion ; the two head men were away, but the next in rank thought 
it was decided that I should have loan of Caproni triplane, 
to try launching of 2500 lb. torpedo ! 

Sept. 22. Received letter from G. L. Cabot, enclosing copy 

660 



REJECTION OF THE TOEPEDOPLANE 661 

of letter from him to Aero Club, telling them to give me a 
$1,000 check he had sent club, to be used for torpedoplane 
work. 

Sept. 24. Bliss Co. agreed orally to make a wooden dummy- 
torpedo and launching gear and as soon as I supply them with 
plans of aeroplane they will go on. Mr. Pamilio of Italian 
Commission on Aeronautics says he has no authority to promise 
that I can use a Caproni plane to try my torpedoplane experi- 
ments, but he agreed to send a cable to Major Perfetti in Italy, 
saying I want to have Caproni plane fly from New York to 
Hampton Roads and return, and drop a heavy Whitehead tor- 
pedo in Hudson River. 

Sept. 27. Went to Washington night of 25th and returned 
this morning. Saw Italian 600 H. P. Biplane, examined it and 
saw it start for Norfolk. Benson, Capt Irwin (in charge of 
aviation under Benson) and Asst. Sec. Roosevelt each told me 
he had not seen my letter to Sec. of Sept. 9 about "Powerful 
Torpedoplanes " and expressed great surprise when I showed 
a copy of it to them. Navy seems to be doing only a very 
small fraction of the work on aeronautics that Army is doing. 

Sept. 30. Frank M. Leavit and I went to Langley Field, 
Virginia, yesterday, and were very courteously received by the 
officer in command and by the Italian officers. Major Brown 
said he had orders from Signal Corps of Army in Washington 
to do everything he could, to help forward the torpedoplane 
experiments, and that he would put 50 men on the job if 
necessary. We all agreed that the Caproni biplane is not quite 
big enough to carry torpedo from England to Kiel & return 
to England, and that it would be better to fit the launching 
gear to the triplane that will be ready as soon as my dummy 
and launching gear are. So Leavitt is going to design both at 
once, and the Bliss Co. will make them. 

Oct. 11. At work on "Naval Strategy." Army and Navy 
expanding rapidly, like balloons. 

Oct. 13. . . . Letter from Glenn Curtiss (in reply to one from 
me) says he is designing seaplane for carrying torpedo, pro- 
pelled by 1000 H. P. and will let me have figures in a week ! 

Oct. 16. German offensive at Riga is progressing danger- 
ously. Capronis state one of their machines has flown 875 
miles continuously with 3 passengers. Gabrielle d'Annunzio 
declares that, in recent raid on Cattoro the Italian aeroplanes 



662 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

flew more than 250 miles without landmarks and using aero- 
planes fitted for land only — (not seaplanes evidently). These 
are two epochal statements. 

Oct. 17. Received notice that I was again elected president 

of the Naval Institute. I received 695 votes, and received 

181 votes. This is my 7th election ! Made open air speech 
(first time) before oi polloi in Madison Square, for benefit 
Liberty Loan. 

Oct. 21. Sunday. Times has letter from London, saying 
fleet cannot take sub. bases because of mines, fortifications, etc. 

I wrote letter for to sign tomorrow, saying Aeroplanes 

can do what Times says fleets cannot do. . . . The book, "For 
France" has come out, with short articles by 135 men and 
women ; my article among them. 

Oct. 23. . . . Letter from Comdr. Sypher says he did take my 
Unpreparedness letter of Nov. 9, 1914, out of Navy Dept files and 
give it to X who put it in his pocket 1 

Oct. 25. The rally at Carnegie Hall last night was great 
success; collected $168,000. Chairman, in introducing me as 
speaker, said three men were the head of the Preparedness 
movement, Gen Wood, Theodore Roosevelt and Admiral Fiske. 
Godfrey L. Cabot called, and invited me to make speech at 
dinner Aero Club New England in Boston, Nov. 21. I ac- 
cepted. 

Oct. 26. Went to Bliss Co. factory with Cabot and saw 
18" dummy steel torpedo and my launching gear. We are 
going to see it again Monday. 

Oct. 27. . . . Letter from Glenn Curtiss says torpedoplane 
flying boat can be made to meet all my requirements, etc. 
Good. 

Oct. 29. Comdr. Sypher writes me that my letter of Nov. 9, 
1914, was returned to the Dept. files, and bore a receiving date 
of "September 13, 1916" ! ! ! ! Also that he knew nothing about 
Lodge asking for it until two months later, when he was in 
China. 

Nov. 3. . . . Telephone message from Bliss Co. said the dummy 
18 inch torpedo and launching gear would be shipped to Langley 
Field today. 

Nov. 4. My dear father's birthday. Went to Trinity p. m. 
service with Jo, in uniform. 



REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 663 

Nov. 12. . . . At Annual Meeting Aero Club, I was elected 
Third Vice Prest. & Governor. We drew up Resolution asking 
Congress to expend 2 Billions for Aeronautics. 

Nov. 16. Spent Nov. 14 in Washington and Nov. 15 at the 
Army Aeronautic station at Langley Field. 

Nov. 21. Went to Boston to give address before Aero Club 
of New England. 

Nov. 24. Good news from France and Italy continues. Jo 
and I went to luncheon of League for Political Education and 
Jo stayed nearly three hours without much fatigue. I made 
brief speech suggesting "League for Strategical Education. 

Nov. 26. . . . Benjamin telephoned Patent Office has granted 
the important claims in my application for patent on aeroplane 
microphone combination. 

Nov. 28. Letter from Glenn Curtiss says "Work for the 
Navy Department has prevented considering our undertaking 
outside work: so that we have been obliged to let the matter 
of a design for torpedoplanes stand where it is. " ! ! Pretty near 
a knock out for me. 

Dec. 6. Made address at banquet of Economic Club on 
"Necessary Steps to Victory" that was well recevied. 

Dec. 8. War declared on Austria. Truce or armistice be- 
tween Germany and Russia also Rumania. Germans succeed- 
ing on both French and Italian fronts, due doubtless to freeing 
of troops on Russian front. Germans will probably make every 
effort to give Allies a knock out blow before U. S. can help. 
This shows awful folly of our delay in preparing, the delay 
beginning on Aug. 1, 1914. 

I believe that the failure of the United States to begin 
to prepare for war as soon as the war broke out in Eu- 
rope will go down in history as one of the most important 
facts of history. In all the United States there were only 
four men who came out plainly before the public and 
urged preparedness. These were Theodore Roosevelt, 
Representative Gardner, General Wood, and my humble 
self. Of these I believe I was the first to act, as I acted 
in the early forenoon of August 1, 1914. I followed this 
up with my letter to the Secretary of the Navy of Novem- 
ber 9, 1914. Representative Gardner advocated the sub- 



664 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

ject courageously and forcefully, but his efforts were 
somewhat handicapped by the unjust accusation that he 
was influenced by political motives, and that he knew 
nothing of the subject, anyhow. My official testimony, as 
senior adviser to the Secretary of the Navy, given before 
Congress, on December 17, 1914, contradicting the testi- 
mony of the Secretary and declaring that it would take at 
least five years to get the navy ready, was probably the 
thing which gave the preparedness movement its first 
real start. General Wood and I have paid for our ac- 
tivities in ways that I do not like to think about. Gard- 
ner paid for his with his life. 

Dec. 10. Rec'd notice from Patent Office, via Park Benjamin 
that I must not communicate to anyone knowledge of the sub- 
ject matter of my application for Patent on . . . filed May 23, 
1917. This referred to my design whereby a dirigible balloon 
towed a boat, the boat towed a submerged microphone, & the 
observer in the dirigible heard sounds from a submarine through 
the microphone. 

Dec. 12. Conditions same in Europe. Congress to investi- 
gate cause of poor equipment, etc., of Army — when it is the fault 
of Congress itself; ably assisted by Bryan, Carnegie & Jane 
Addams. 

Dec. 14. . . . The confusion that always attends haste is now 
beginning to attract the attention of the public. 

Dec. 15. Little change as yet. Allied Naval Conference to 
be established in Europe; U. S. to be represented by Benson 
and Sims. Navy Committee in House to investigate Navy is 
announced. How can Committee possibly find out anything, 
except that an enormous "expansion" has taken place; and 
much money spent for personnel and material. 

Dec. 19. Conference in office of Ford Marine Instrument Co. 
with officer (Van Auken) from Bureau Ordnance, one from 
Bausch Lamb Co., Mr. Ford and me, endeavoring to devise plan 
to make horizometers that will fulfil desires of the service. 

Dec. 20. Conditions little changed. Army investigation 
shows bad preparation. People seem surprised!!! And Ger- 
many has been preparing since 1640. 

Dec. 21. . . . Prepared letter to President Aero Club. 



REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 665 

My letter to the president of the Aero Club read as 

follows : 

T. Tir XT , New York, Dec. 23, 1917. 

Dear Mr. Hawley : ' 

I beg leave to recall to your memory the various letters I have 
written to you during the year 1917, and to point out that the 
plan I suggested to you as soon as we entered the war and have 
urged upon you since of sending large units of aircraft to Eu- 
rope has been approved in this country and abroad. 

As the year is now nearly ended and as the question of using 
aircraft in large units is now occupying the public attention in 
a high degree, I beg leave to request that you will exert your 
influence as president of the Aero Club of America to impress 
the public with the fact that the project of using aircraft for 
major aerial operations is not a foolish notion of fanatics in 
aeronautics, but is a sound idea, based on the principles of 
strategy. 

PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE OP STRATEGY 

The reason why it is necessary that any plan of operation 
should be based on the principles of strategy is that strategy is 
the science and the art of planning and directing war. Th© 
reason why Alexander conquered Darius three hundred years 
before the Christian era was the same as the reason why Prussia 
conquered France twenty-one centuries later, and why the vari- 
ous great commanders in the intervening years conquered their 
antagonists. The basic reason was not that the victors fought 
with the greater courage, or that they possessed the better weap- 
ons and equipments, but that they were directed by a more far- 
seeing and deep-thinking strategy. 

"Strategy decides what is to be done. It has two assistants 
for doing afterwards the things decided on; one assistant is 
tactics, which actually fights each battle; the other assistant is 
logistics, which provides the weapons, ammunition, ships, men, 
transportation, equipments, food and money. An analogy may 
be pointed out between warfare and almost any other activity 
of men; for instance, the production of a play upon the stage 
— strategy having its counterpart in the play which is planned 
and written; tactics having its counterpart in the actual per- 
formance of the play by the actors ; logistics having its counter- 
part in the work of the manager in providing the theatre, scenery, 
costumes, players and the money to pay the bills. 



666 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

A regular formula for use in solving strategic problems was 
invented and developed by the German General Staff some years 
ago, and it has been adopted by the armies and navies of the 
world. 

The problem is divided into four parts: 

(1) The mission, that is, the thing that ought to be done. 

(2) The difficulties in the way, such as the forces of the enemy 
and the efforts he will probably make. 

(3) Our means of accomplishing the mission and overcoming 
the forces of the enemy. 

(4) The decision. 

If we try to utilize this formula in the present war we see 
at once that the "mission" is plain. It is to whip Germany. 

When we come to the second part we see that we may divide 
the forces of our enemy into three parts: Germany's economic 
establishment, Germany's military establishment and Germany's 
naval establishment. These three establishments support the 
government of Germany, just as three legs support a stool. They 
are joined together and are mutually dependent as are the legs 
of a stool, but if any one is broken, the government must fall 
down. 

If Germany's economic establishment is broken down, Ger- 
many cannot support the Army and Navy and therefore will 
have to give up ; if her military establishment is broken down, 
the Allies can march to Berlin and compel Germany to give up ; 
if her naval establishment is broken down, the Allies can form 
an impassable blockade around Germany which will shut off 
every means of communication with the outside world, even the 
means of submarines, and compel German}^ to give up. 

Coming to the third part of the problem, our facilities for ac- 
complishing our mission against the opposing forces of Germany, 
we see that our means or facilities are the Army and Navy, 
backed by the enormous material resources of the United States. 
Naturally our Army would work with the Allied armies and our 
Navy with the Allied navies. 

Coming to the fourth part, the decision, we see that it amounts 
to deciding what we, or rather the Allies, are to do with our 
Army and Navy against the German Army and Navy, and also 
what the other resources of the Allies can do against Germany's 
economic establishment. History shows that, in times of war, the 
best way to destroy the economic establishment of an enemy is 



REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 667 

to use the destructive appliances of the Army and Navy which 
were designed and developed for that purpose. Such measures 
as embargo are extremely efficacious, but during actual war they 
have always been auxiliary to strategic measures. 

In order to make a wise decision as to what are the necessary 
steps to fulfil the mission, let us consult our only guide for 
the future, which is the history of the past. If we do this we 
find that our question is very old, indeed, and that it has been 
answered many times. The answer has already been, ' ' Battles ; 
decisive battles." 

WARS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DECIDED BY BATTLES 

If one reads history reflectively he becomes impressed not 
only with the enormous effect on history of battles, but also with 
the small number of them that were individually decisive, even 
when an actual victory was achieved by either side. 

The most important book on this subject is " Creasy 's Fifteen 
Decisive Battles of the World." In his preface, Creasy quotes 
Hallam as saying of the battle of Tours: "It may justly be 
reckoned among those few battles of which a contrary event 
would have essentially varied the drama of the world in all 
subsequent scenes." 

Each one of the battles described brought about a decision 
that was momentous to mankind. Each battle as fought hy the 
victor was the carrying out of a distinct and brilliant pla/n pre- 
viously conceived by the mind. In no battle did the victor 
fight with a vague intention ; in no battle did the victor fight 
unprepared; in no battle was the strategy of the victor faulty 
or short-sighted ; in no case did the government behind the vic- 
torious side have an erroneous or incomplete idea of the military 
situation. 

SUPERIOR DECISIVENESS OF NAVAL BATTLES 

One fact stands out clearly, and that is the fact that as a 
general rule naval battles in which there was an actual victory 
were much more decisive of future results than similar land 
battles. This is probably because ships that are disabled or 
destroyed cannot be repaired so quickly as buildings and other 
land works can ; and because sailors cannot be replaced as read- 
ily as soldiers. 

The importance of naval battles was not realized until Mahan 



668 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

made us realize it. Mahan has passed away, but the light he 
lit still shines. By this light we see that the military battle of 
Waterloo was not really so decisive as the naval battle of 
Trafalgar, although Waterloo was the culminating battle against 
Napoleon. The battle of Trafalgar bore the same relation to the 
battle of Waterloo that in a game of chess the move which pre- 
cedes the announcement of "mate in (say) four moves" has 
to the last move of the game, which gives the culminating check- 
mate. When one player in a game of chess moves his piece and 
announces, ' ' Mate in four moves, ' ' that move is the decisive move 
in the game and the subsequent move which finally check-mates 
the adversary is not the decisive move, although it is the culmin- 
ating move. Nelson's victory at Trafalgar decided irrevocably 
that Napoleon's ambition for European dominion should end in 
failure, because it established the British navy as a permanent 
unbalanced force against him ; the only unbalanced force among 
all the multifarious forces acting, the only force which Napoleon 
was powerless against. Trafalgar announced "mate in four 
moves" to Napoleon; Waterloo was the check-mate. Even if 
Napoleon had gained Waterloo, he would have eventually failed, 
for the reason that Great Britain could prevent that free move- 
ment of warships and merchant ships upon the sea without which 
no country can maintain even a mediocre place in the family 
of nations. 

Even more clearly the battle between the Monitor and the 
Merrimac on ]\Iarch 9, 1862, and not the Battle of Gettysburg, 
was the decisive battle of our Civil War. Swinton points out 
in his "Twelve Decisive Battles of Our War" that a victory 
by the Merrimac would not only have raised the existing block- 
ade of the southern coast, but would have given the South the 
entire control of Hampton Koads and Chesapeake Bay, the 
mouths of the James and Potomac rivers and the approaches 
from the south and east to Washington and Richmond, and 
would have endangered New York besides. Concluding a long 
and keen discussion of the results that would surely have fol- 
lowed a victory by the Merrimac, Swinton says: "The Con- 
federacy would have received the alliance of one or both of 
those countries (meaning England and France) and the Re- 
public would have been forever rent in twain." 

The defeat of the Merrimac by the Monitor decided to which 
side victory would go, for the simple reason that it made it im- 



REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 669 

possible for the South to get the necessary money, munitions and 
equipment with which to wage the war successfully. Even if 
the Confederacy had won at Gettysburg it would eventually have 
failed. The decision as to which side would win was given on the 
waters of Hampton Roads on the 9th of March, 1862, more than 
a year before Gettysburg was fought. Unfortunately this fact 
was not realized when the Monitor's victory was won, but now 
that we see that if it had been realized and if the North had 
merely held the Southern Army in check thereafter and had 
devoted its major attention to the Navy and to the maintenance 
by the Navy of a more vigorous blockade, the war would have 
been decided with immeasurably less loss of time and blood 
and suffering. 

COMPARATIVE MERCIFULNESS OP NAVAL BATTLES 

Our war with Spain was one of the most decisive wars that 
was ever waged; it was one of the most fruitful in permanent 
and great results, and yet the loss of time and blood was ex- 
tremely small — smaller in proportion to the vast and permanent 
results achieved than in any war ever waged before. This was 
because it was a naval war, in which ships, which it is almost im- 
possible to replace, were the targets for our guns, and not human 
beings which can easily be replaced. 

A like truth may be stated about the war between Russia and 
Japan. Countless thousands were slain and wounded in the 
land battles of Manchuria, with little or no results that we 
can see, but the naval battle of Tsushima, with comparatively 
small loss of life, settled the whole question between Japan and 
Russia in one historic hour. 

If the only way to win this war is to fight a long succession 
of enormous land battles, then we must fight them ; but it may 
be advantageous to see if an alternative method less bloody but 
e(iually decisive can be devised. This idea seems worth thinking 
about, especially if we actually realize that the most decisive 
battles of history were not the most bloody; that some of them, 
like the battle of Santiago and the battle between the Monitor 
and the Merrimac, were comparatively bloodless, and that the 
battle of Manila did not cost a single life on the American side. 



670 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

AEROPLANES CAN ATTACK WEAK POINTS 

Careful reflection about the decisive battles of the world seems 
to show us that in every case a strong attack was made against a 
point that was comparatively weak and yet was vital. Noting 
this, does it not occur to us at once that Germany 's weakest point 
is her navy, that it is vital, too, and that therefore we should 
make a strong attack upon it? Her naval power is now pro- 
tected behind vast mine fields just as the garrison of a fort in 
the olden days was protected behind the thick walls of a fort. 
But the walls of the fort, when they could not be broken through 
were climbed over with scaling ladders, and the German mine: 
fields can likewise be flown over with aeroplanes. 

Some of these aeroplanes may be seaplanes that rise from 
North Sea waters, manned by navy men; while others may 
spring directly from the land, manned by army men. Coin- 
cidently with these attacks, great divisions of army warplanes 
may attack the enemy's bridges, munition depots and railroads 
behind his trenches in France, and thus prevent him from 
concentrating all his aerial forces in defense of Kiel and Wil- 
helmshaven. 

STRATEGIC VALUE OF NEW APPLIANCES 

It may be objected that the adoption of this suggestion would 
involve attaching undue importance to a new mechanical ap- 
pliance. In answer it may be pointed out that all weapons 
are mechanical appliances, and that some of the greatest suc- 
cesses in war have been gained by utilizing new mechanical 
appliances. In fact, the principal factors in whatever successes 
the Germans have attained have been the new mortars with 
which they battered in the tops of the Belgian forts, their novel 
appliances for trench fighting, and their unexpectedly efficient 
submarines. 

It may also be pointed out that the aeroplane has established 
itself as a mechanical appliance of great reliability, that it can 
carry large destructive forces to strategic points more quickly 
than any other appliance can, that a squadron of Caproni aero- 
planes recently made a flight of 875 miles without stopping, that 
the distance from England to Kiel and Wilhelmshaven is only 
375 miles and 275 miles respectively, and that the distances to 
those places from Northeastern France are only 30 miles greater. 



REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 671 

It may be at the present moment that there are no aeroplanes 
that are able to carry full-sized torpedoes from England to 
Kiel, discharge the torpedoes and return to England, but there 
are aeroplanes in existence that fall short of such an ability by 
only a small percentage. Certainly, therefore, if no such aero- 
planes do exist, they can be made to exist, and I am informed that 
they can, by one of the most competent aeronautical engineers in 
the world. 

It is instructive to recall the fact that of all the many factors 
that decided the result of the Russian-Japanese .War the most 
important single factor was a new invention, the naval tele- 
scope sight — because it was the decisive Japanese victory at the 
naval battle of Tsushima that decided the outcome of the war by 
ruining every chance the Russians had of conquering Japan; 
because it was the enormous superiority in gunnery of the 
Japanese that gave the Japanese the victory, and because the 
enormous superiority in gunnery of the Japanese was due en- 
tirely to the fact that the Japanese guns were perfectly equipped 
with telescope sights, while the Russian guns were not. 

This same naval telescope sight is the means with which every 
gun in every Allied vessel, no matter how large or how small, 
is directed against the submarine. It is the most efficient weapon 
yet brought to bear against the submarine. 

THE GERMAN NAVY CAN BE SMASHED 

Much hope is felt by the Allies now because of the apparent 
loss of effectiveness of the submarine attacks. Whether or not 
the submarine has been beaten, let us realize that the submarine 
is only one of many naval weapons, and that naval strategy 
recognizes the fact that so long as the enemy's fleet exists as a 
fighting force, so long as it remains what we call "a fleet in 
being," it constitutes a continuing menace, from which an at- 
tack of some kind may be expected at any time. For this rea- 
son, no mere subsidence of submarine activities should blind us 
to a desirability of sinking or disabling the German fleet. 

Germany's entire fleet is concentrated in the region of Kiel 
and Wilhelmshaven. All her naval eggs are in one basket, and 
those eggs are vitally essential to her existence as a nation. It 
is my profound conviction that we can smash those eggs by 
torpedoplane and air-bomb attacks, if we prepare and deliver 
them on a scale sufficiently great. 



672 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

If we do this, we shall win the latest decisive battle of the 
world and take the final necessary step to victory with the 
minimum expenditure of money and time and human life. 

Respectfully, 

(Signed) Bradley A. Fiske, 

For this letter I received such a severe written repri- 
mand from the Secretary of the Navy that I decided to 
desist for a while from further efforts to advance the de- 
velopment of aeronautics. 

Jan. 11. ... I went to Phila. Navy Yard and was very politely 
received by everybody. Naval Constructor Coburn, in charge 
of New Aeronautic construction factory there, said my scheme 
for launching torpedoes was thoroughly practicable as to the 
flying boats building there. 

Jan. 16. Went to luncheon of Am. Defense Society at 
Union League Club. Sat at table of 6, with Col. Roosevelt, who 
was guest of honor, and had just accepted Hon. Presidency of 
Society. 

Colonel Roosevelt made a brief speech, in which he 
said, in part, as follows: 

Now, the next thing I am going to say — of course, I take 
it for granted that there will be no report made here that I do 
not see — want to say a word of Admiral Fiske, and I want not 
to hurt Admiral Fiske more than he has been hurt by his own 
courage and loyalty to the country. . . . 

The Admiral is, with the sole exception of General Wood, 
the man who has suffered most from daring to tell the truth 
about our condition. Over three years ago, the Admiral made 
the first big move for improving the condition of the Navy by 
telling the truth about the Navy, and was punished mercilessly 
because he did tell the truth. Every American owes a real and 
great debt to the Admiral. He rendered a substantial, affirma- 
tive service to the people of the United States at great personal 
cost. I am glad to have a chance to pay a tribute to him in his 
presence, which I pay to Leonard Wood in his absence. 

Jan. 17. I mailed to Sec. Nav. (Office Nav. Int.) an article 
asked for by The Independent on "What We Are Fighting 
For" — and asked permission to publish it. ... I had shown 



REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 673 

it to editor, Hamilton Holt, and he said he liked it very much. 

Later, the permission was refused. 

Jan. 19. . . . The men now in authority are trying to do things 
Julius CoEsar could not do in the time available. 

Jan. 22. Every paper and every speaker is shouting "speed 
up." We have speeded up so much already that we are like a 
crowd of people, "speeding up" to get out of a theatre; we 
are getting in each other's way. 

Jan. 25. Received from Col. Roosevelt a copy of his book 
"Americanism & Preparedness," in which he does me the great 
honor to praise me several times. On the fly leaf is written ' ' To 
Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, with the gratitude and admira- 
tion of Theodore Roosevelt." 

Jan. 26. Sent a letter to Sec. Nav. asking the Army be re- 
quested to try my 18 inch dummy torpedo from Caproni biplane, 
and let Navy observe the results. 

This letter was simply following up my letter of Sep- 
tember 9, 1917. It read as follows : 

128 West 59th Street, 
New York, Jan. 26, 1918. 
From Rear Admiral B. A. Fiske, Retired, 
To The Secretary of the Navy (Divisions of Operations). 

Subject :— POW^ERFUL TORPEDOPLANES 
Reference: — Rear Admiral Fiske 's letter dated September 9th, 
1917. 

1. In accordance with an oral conversation held with the Chief 
of Naval Operations in his office on January 24, I called on the 
Chief Signal Officer of the Army. He was absent; but I had 
a satisfactory conversation with Colonel Deeds, who is in charge 
of the Equipment Division of the Signal Office. 

2. I told Colonel Deeds that I had sent a dummy 18" torpedo, 
made of steel, with appropriate launching gear to Langley 
Field last Autumn ready for dropping from the Caproni tri- 
plane — ^which was wrecked later; that the dummy torpedo and 
launching gear were ready to be tried as soon as another large 
aeroplane was available ; and that I was desirous of ascertaining 
whether the Army could provide such an Aeroplane. I also said 
that I had received the impression from the Chief of Naval Op- 
erations that the Navy would like to have a trial made of 



674 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAE-ADMIRAL 

launching the 18" dummy torpedo from such an aeroplane, if 
such a trial could be conveniently brought about. 

3. Colonel Deeds said that a large Caproni biplane was on 
its way to the United States; that it would be set up at the 
Aviation Field at Mineola, L. I., N. Y.; and that he thought 
it would be ready to fly in about eight (8) weeks. 

4. He also said that he would be very glad to have the 
Caproni biplane used to try the experiment ; and that he would 
either lend the biplane to the navy, or else would have the ex- 
periment made by army aviators accustomed to the machine, & 
let the navy make such observations of the results as the Sec- 
retary of the Navy might direct. 

5. I therefore respectfully request that the Navy Department 
take such steps towards such a trial as the Secretary may deem 
best. If I may be permitted to make a suggestion, I would 
suggest that the Army be asked to conduct the trial along such 
lines as the navy may desire, and that navy officers observe 
whatever results occur. B. A. Fiske. 

Jan. 30. . . . Godfrey L. Cabot came up to my apartment, 
and we discussed a paper I had written to Bu. Ordnance, about 
"Comparative Effectiveness of Torpedoplanes and Bomb Drop- 
ping Aeroplanes." This paper proved by mathematics and the 
principles of Gunnery that torpedoplanes are more accurate and 
destructive. 

Feb. 5. Received back from Washington the Ms. that I sent, 
on "What We Are Fighting For" (requested by Liberty Loan 
Committee) — noi giving permission to publish it! 

Feb. 6. Submitted preface for second edition of my book 
to Scribners, and Foreword for * ' Sea Power & Freedom, ' ' asked 
for by the Putnams. 

Feb. 8. . . . Theodore Roosevelt is declared in "Serious con- 
dition." "Flying" (American) is out with big front page 
illustration showing Kaiser falling off 3-legged stool, because 
one leg (Navy) is being torpedoplaned. This is to illustrate my 
argument made in letter to Hawley, of December 23. 

Feb. 9. Roosevelt improving. I sent in to Scribners my 
preface for the second edition of "The Navy as a Fighting Ma- 
chine. ' ' 

Feb. 13. I was elected President of the Army and Navy Club 
of New York today. 



REJECTION OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 675 

Feb. 15. Married 36 years ago today! Called on Mr. H. C. 
Ford of Ford Marine Instrument Co., and suggested that he 
leave out of new model horizometer all additions outside of angle 
measurement, and simply transmit to the plotting room the angle 
— in either vertical or horizontal plane. Mr. Ford was de- 
lighted — very much so, and said he would take up the scheme 
at once. At last I see a reason to expect that the plan I have 
urged ever since I wrote "Courage and Prudence" in 1907 and 
suggested the "plotting room" will be carried out. 

Feb. 20. Bolsheviki govt, has made peace with Germany 
paying 4 billion dollars, ceding certain Baltic provinces, etc! 
The pacifistic attitude of the Bolsheviki, and the licking they are 
therefore receiving, is a lesson for our pacifists, and is the kind 
of a result that Army and Navy officers have always predicted 
for pacifistic nations, that leave their money out on the counter, 
without any protection. 

Feb. 21. Germany apparently is going to conquer Russia. 
Germany commands "air" near American lines!!! I feared 
this would occur ; in fact I knew that our inaction would cause 
just such a situation. 

Feb. 25. The N. Y. Times has an editorial lauding Secre- 
tary Daniels. Good: but if I had not brought about certain 
measures that he opposed with all the force of his authority, he 
would now be more condemned by the public than Sec. "War Alger 
was in Spanish War. 

Mar. 8. Letter from Major (Dr.) H. C. Coe in London says 
Vice Admiral Sims, in a conversation with him, gave me "all 
the credit for putting the U. S. Navy on the basis such as we 
have today," etc. 

On May 21 I received the following letter from Secre- 
tary Daniels in answer to my letter of January 26, 1918. 
It killed all my hopes of utilizing the torpedoplane in the 
war: 



676 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

COPY 
Address reply to 6-EB 

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 
And refer to initials 
and No. 

Op. Air— WSB 

0146-153 

NAVY DEPARTMENT 
Washington 

May 20, 1918. 
From : Secretary of the Navy. 
To: Rear Admiral B. A. Fiske (Retired) 
SUBJECT : Powerful Torpedoplanes. 
Reference: (a) Your letter dated January 26, 1918. 

1. The proposed suggestion by you of launching torpedoes 
from aircraft has been studied in connection with experiments 
which have been carried on by the allied powers, and the follow- 
ing results and decisions have been determined: 

(a) From experiments it has been proved that torpedoes can 
be launched from aircraft. This must be done, however, 
at an altitude not in excess of fifteen feet. At this alti- 
tude one thing must be guarded against, namely, the re- 
bounding of the torpedoes which sometimes strike the tail 
of the aircraft resulting in a crash. 

(b) The feasibility of this form of attack in the face of 
offensive gun fire is doubted, for even should the air- 
craft escape, the aim would seldom be accurate due to 
confusion of the operators. 

(c) As the enemy's ships are not operating on the high seas 
the only way to reach them would be to attack them at 
their bases. These bases are located well within defenses, 
and heavy aircraft capable of carrying torpedoes would 
not be able to penetrate the enemy's defenses guarding 
these bases. Hence, it is not deemed practicable to at- 
tempt such offensive operations. 

(d) Experiments along this line have already been tried and 
discarded by the Allied Powers in Europe and the possi- 
bility of obtaining satisfactory results from the proposed 
scheme is so slight as not to warrant the expenditure of 
the time and talent required for its development. 

(Signed) Josephus Daniels. 



CHAPTER XLV 

THE TRIUMPH OP THE TOEPEDOPLANE, FUTURE GLORY 
OF AMERICA, GOLD MEDAL 



O 



N June 15 I received the following letter from the 
president of the Aero Club of America: 

THE AERO CLUB OF AMERICA 
297 Madison Avenue 



New York, June 13, 1918. . 
Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, U.S.N., 
128 West 59th Street, 
New York City. 
My dear Admiral Fiske : 

Permit me to take advantage of the occasion of your 64th 
birthday to extend my cordial congratulations, and at the same 
time, to thank you, on behalf of the Aero Club of America, for 
the assistance you have given to naval and military aeronautics. 

You have done more for these causes than any other man 
in the United States. You were the first man in the world to 
point out the possibilities of the aeroplane for major operations ; 
and you have persistently called attention to them since 1911. 
You were the first man, after we entered the war, to publicly 
urge sending a large aeroplane force to Europe; and your en- 
dorsement, as a strategist, of the efforts of this Club to secure 
large appropriations for aeronautics, was a potent force with 
Congress. 

Your official testimony before Congress on December 17, 1914, 
and on March 24, 1916, showed a clearer vision of the necessity 
for immediately developing aeronautics and strongly encouraging 
aeronautic manufacturers, than any other official showed. Un- 
fortunately, your wise recommendations were not heeded until 
after we had actually entered the war. If they had been acted 
on when you made them, the United States would have been able 
to send an overwhelming force of aeroplanes to the assistance 

677 



678 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO EEAR-ADMIRAL 

of the Allies immediately after we entered the war, and German 
submarines would not now be defying our navy on our own 
coast. 

Navy officers tell me that you have done more to strengthen 
the navy than any other man in our history, and that you did 
it mainly (though not wholly) by your electrical inventions and 
gunnery inventions, and by establishing the general staff meth- 
ods, by which our navy is now handled. I know, of my own 
knowledge, that you did more than anyone else to bring about 
its use of aeroplanes and dirigibles ; and I believe that, since the 
first of August, 1914, you have shown a clearer understanding 
of the situation as a whole, and of the measures we ought to 
take, to secure victory, than any other man in the United States. 

The navy appreciates your work, as it has shown by electing 
you President of the Naval Institute seven times in succession. 
Predicting that the country also will appreciate your work, as 
soon as the country learns to understand it, I am ever 

Faithfully yours, 

(Signed) Alan R. Hawley, 
President, Aero Club of America. 

After the United States had entered into the war a 
period of great confusion and hurry ensued, in which 
many hundreds of millions of money were appropriated 
by Congress, with the cordial approval of the people, in 
a determined endeavor to save the world from the catas- 
trophe which their own short-sightedness threatened to 
create. Both political parties rallied to the support of 
the Government, men occupying the most important and 
lucrative positions in business and professional life gave 
their services for nominal salaries, and enormous or- 
ganizations for manufacturing supplies of all kinds and 
transporting them to Europe soon resulted. After the 
nation had realized its folly and the possible fruits, the 
inborn genius of the American asserted itself. The ex- 
pense involved was tremendous, and so was the waste; 
but the wastage was due not to inefficiency then, but to 
short-sightedness before. 

Because aeronautics was a new art compared with the 
other arts brought into requisition, such as the arts of 



TRIUMPH OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 679 

gun-building and ship construction, less useful work in 
ending the war was done by aeronautics on the part of 
America, than by the other agencies. I lost flesh that I 
could not spare in fruitless exasperation, and in imagin- 
ing what would have happened if the earnest recom- 
mendations which I made when I testified before the 
naval committee on March 24, 1916, had been f*ollowed. 
It seemed to me that if they had been followed, we cauld 
have entered the war ready to furnish immediate aero- 
nautical aid; and I said to myse-lf that, if my work in 
establishing the Division of Aeronautics when I was aid 
for operations had been continued, if, in fact, the Divi- 
sion of Aeronautics had not been actually abolished, we 
could have started flotillas of bombing-machines and tor- 
pedoplanes across the ocean on April 7, 1917. In fact, 
I could hardly avoid the conviction that, if we had gone 
ahead as we were going aeronautically when I left office 
on May 11, 1915, Germany would have known it, and 
would not then have been such a fool as to adopt her 
policy of ruthless submarine warfare in defiance of the 
repeated warnings of the United States. Germany went 
into the war because she thought she saw an oppor- 
tunity; and she defied the United States because she 
thought the United States would not fight, and could not 
fight effectively if she would. What Germany failed to 
realize was that the guiding genius of the American peo- 
ple was not William J. Bryan, hut Theodore Roosevelt. 

During the months of June and July I made occasional 
trips to Washington and to the aircraft factory in Phila- 
delphia in the endeavor to get permission to have one of 
the large flying-boats then under construction, fitted as 
an experimental torpedoplane. I also worked with the 
Aero Club in their endeavors to have transatlantic flight 
attempted. On July 19 I had one of the joyful surprises 
of my life. Says my diary: 

July 19. I was in Washington yesterday. I saw a dispatch 
from Admiral Sims, dated July 10, saying that 150 seaplanes, 



680 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

fitted to carry and launch 1000 lb. torpedoes (torpedoplanes) 

had been ordered by the British Admiralty! Captain 

showed me the telegram, and naval constructor Hunsacker spoke 
of it to me afterwards! Isn't it distressing that the British 
Navy should do this, when our Navy Department has not only 
done nothing to develop the torpedoplane, but actually and af- 
firmatively rejected it, in a letter to me signed by the Secretary 
of the Navy, dated May 20, 1918 ! My case is worse than Gen- 
eral Wood's. 

July 20. ... nominations are out for officers of Naval In- 
stitute. I am the only nominee for president ; and yet the rules 
say the Board of Control must nominate three. 

Aug. 1. Germany seems tired out. Crisis seems to have been 
her recent defeats in the latter part of July. 

From this time forward German retreats followed 
in rapid succession. 3 On November 11 an armistice was 
signed, and the war virtually ended. 

This caused great rejoicing among all the Allied na- 
tions ; but it brought me face to face with the fact that I 
had not been officially employed during the entire war, 
though I had made official application for duty, and many 
retired rear-admirals older than I had been employed, 
who had not had as complete and varied experience as I. 
No reason (I mean, of course, no good reason) for not 
employing me occurred to me J for I had served effi- 
ciently in all the grades of the navy, both in peace and in 
war, had successfully filled the highest position a navy 
officer can fill, had twice 'been member of the General 
Board, had established the system under which the Navy 
Department was handled throughout the war, and had 
invented more successful naval and military appliances 
than any other man in the world. I had not even 
been put on the Navy Consulting Board, which had 
been established for the purpose of developing inven- 
tions, and which I myself had suggested for the Secre- 
tary ! Several of its members told me that I ought to be 
on the board; in fact, the head of it. At the risk of 
appearing conceited, but in order to make my point 
clear, I beg leave to state that on the occasion of a 




Photo. Harris & Ewine- 



C^ 







of Illustrated London News & R. F. A. 

Before it enters the water 




Courtesy of Illustrated London News & R. F. A. 

The torpedo hitting the water with the torpedoplane out of danger from the splash 
A TORPEDO BEING LAUNCHED FROM A TORPEDOPLANE 



m. 



TRIUMPH OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 681 

large celebration at Elizabethport, New Jersey, on July 
6, 1918, when the first large Handley-Page machine was 
flown, I mistakenly entered a room in which I found a 
number of men seated at a long table. No sooner had I 
entered than these men applauded, and the chairman 
rose and asked me to sit by him, and then to ''make a 
few remarks." To my amazement I found that I had 
unwittingly intruded on a conference of the Navy Con- 
sulting Board. 

August 2. Called on Morgan Shuster, president Century 
Company. "We agreed orally that the Century Company will 
publish my book at a time to be agreed on later. 

The book referred to is this one. 

During the months of June, July, and August, German 
submarines off the coast of the United States sank many 
vessels, one of which was the United States armored 
cruiser San Diego. The German submarines seemed 
to do as they pleased, for the only effective defense 
against them, considering the great area over which they 
worked, would have been aeroplanes, and we had almost 
no aeroplanes ready, though many were now under con- 
struction. The last sinking occurred about August 27. 
I believe. It seems probable that all German submarines 
were called home shortly after this. Possibly, it was that 
they might take part in a naval offensive; but this naval 
offensive never took place, because the German fleet 
mutinied. Shortly after this mutiny Germany declared 
her willingness to sign an armistice. Whether the will- 
ingness to sign the armistice was a direct effect of the 
mutiny I do not, of course, know; but it is obvious that 
it would have been foolish for Germany to continue the 
war after her fleet had mutinied. As I pointed out in my 
letter to the president of the Aero Club, dated December 
23, 1917, the government of every maritime nation is like 
a three-legged stool, in that it rests on three supports, 
any one of which being knocked out, the structure must 
come down. In the case of a maritime nation, these sup- 



682 FEOM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAK-ADMIKAL 

ports are the economic establishment, the army, and the 
navy. 

The noblest man this country has produced since Wash- 
ington, died on January 6, 1919. It will be one of the con- 
solations of my declining days that during the last year 
of his life Theodore Roosevelt honored me several times 
with expressions of his esteem. I owe to him more than 
to any other man except my father whatever desires I 
have ever had to live a manly life, and whatever small 
measure of success I may have had in living it. In a 
sordid generation Theodore Roosevelt shone like a star 
of magnanimity and lofty aspiration. 

In the latter part of 1918, it became known that the 
British fleet had realized for a year the danger of torpe- 
doplane attacks upon it, and that the navy had taken 
measures on a tremendous scale for making just such tor- 
pedoplane and bombing attacks on Kiel and Wilhelms- 
haven as I had urged in June, 1917, and afterwards. 

It became known also that, after trying various modi- 
fications, the British had finally adopted the apparatus 
and the method of using it that were specifically illus- 
trated and described in my patent, so that no ''develop- 
ing" had been required. It is extremely rare that an in- 
vention that is really new, is ''right the first time." My 
stadimeter and torpedoplane were virtually so. 

In March, 1918, Henry Woodhouse wrote an article for 
the United States Naval Institute called "The Torpedo- 
plane." It was accepted by the Board of Control, but 
they had to refer it to the Navy Department for permis- 
sion to publish. As there was some delay in passing the 
censor's office, I went to Washington and represented the 
matter to Assistant-Secretary Roosevelt, then Acting 
Secretary. As Mr. Roosevelt had been continuously do- 
ing all he could to advance the cause of aeronautics, in- 
cluding the torpedoplane, and as there was nothing in the 
article which could give any information to any foreign 
government, Mr. Roosevelt finally approved the publica- 
tion of the article with a few minor omissions. The ar- 



TRIUMPH OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 683 

tide appeared in the May number of the Institute Pro- 
ceedings and disclosed the fact that the Italians, Ger- 
mans, and British had been experimenting with the tor- 
pedoplane since 1914. The successes of the Germans and 
British in sinking vessels were mentioned, and the follow- 
ing statements from English papers were quoted : 

The mystery aeroplanes of the British Navy, which during the 
fighting were one of its most jealously guarded secrets, have 
been specially described by an expert who has had full op- 
portunities for studying the craft. 

The mj'stery aeroplane was designed to do from the air more 
effectively and more swiftly the work formerly allotted to our 
torpedo-boats. The enemy had devised such successful pro- 
tection of harbors and ships against our torpedo-boats and sub- 
marines that it was only with the gravest risk that we could 
approach within 30 miles of Kiel and other German fortified 
ports. But for the newest peril the enemy had no reply. 

The news of our discovery of a means of attack that was 
immune from mine dangers and too swift in its operation to be 
held off by gunfire reached the ears of the enemy, and it is be- 
lieved, in one quarter at least, to have helped the Huns to the de- 
cision of surrender. 

Among the many new devices which the armistice prevented 
the Koyal Air Force from putting into use against the enemy 
was the torpedo-aeroplane. It is considered to be of even greater 
potential value than the submarine, and would doubtless have 
proved astonishingly efficient. The enemy has good reason to 
be thankful for having escaped this new offensive weapon, which 
was ready for active service only a little while before the cessa- 
tion of hostilities. The torpedo-aeroplane is a development of 
the torpedo-carriers, which were first successfully employed in 
action by the R. N. A. S. at the Dardanelles in 1915, and were 
subsequently used against us by the Germans in 1917, when they 
were thus enabled to sink three of our merchant ships off the 
South-East Coast. The torpedo carried by torpedo-aeroplanes 
is of a small size as modern torpedoes go, and weighs half a 
ton. 

Had riot hostilities ceased so suddenly, these machines would 
have operated effectively against Kiel harbor and the German 
warships in their lair. The efficacy of the weapons will be real- 



684 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

ized when the operation is explained. One of these mystery- 
aeroplanes, espying its enemy, makes a sudden dive from the 
clouds at 150 miles an hour, levels out at 50 feet above the 
surface, discharges a torpedo directly at the enemy ship at the 
right moment, after which the pilot pulls back his joy-stick and 
disappears into the clouds as suddenly as he appeared. The 
operation is so swift that the enemy has little chance of train- 
ing a gun on the assailant. In one of these attacks a British 
airman torpedoed and sank a Turkish troopship containing 
3000 troops. 

When the German fleet surrendered, an aeroplane "mother- 
ship" with 20 of these machines in its bosom met the Huns 50 
miles out at sea, and had any tricks been tried it would have 
been simple work for a score of mystery aeroplanes to have 
leapt into the air and torpedoed the best part of the ships. This 
mystery or "Cuckoo" aeroplane — so called because of its weak- 
ness for laying eggs in other people's nests — is one further 
testimony to British engineering ability and resourcefulness of 
our navy. 

Mr. Woodhouse's article aroused considerable atten- 
tion and caused many comments in the public press. 
Regret was expressed, and amazement too, that our Navy 
Department bad permitted foreign governments exclu- 
sively to bring into practical use an invention so unmistak- 
ably American. It was pointed out that, if my recommen- 
dations had been followed the United States could have 
had ' * flotillas of torpedoplanes ' ' ready when the war broke 
out, but that, on the contrary, not one American torpedo- 
plane existed. 

Stress was laid on the fact, also, that the Navy De- 
partment had had placed at its disposal almost un- 
limited resources, money and facilities for trying new 
inventions ; that it had spent great sums in trying to de- 
velop the inventions of certain other inventors and yet 
that it had refused to try mine at all, although, as an edi- 
torial in the New York Herald expressed it, "its orig- 
inator, Rear Admiral Fiske, has probably invented more 
successful naval and military inventions than any other 
man in history." 



TRIUMPH OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 685 

This expression in the Herald seems at first glance to 
be exaggerated, but I am under the impression that it is 
correct. This is not because I have made so many suc- 
cessful naval and military inventions, but because other 
men have made so few. I am quite familiar with the 
history of weapons, and I do not know of any other man 
who has invented so many important weapons as I have. 
When one considers what a tremendously important part 
weapons have played in the long conflict between civiliza- 
tion and barbarism, the sterility of invention in the mat- 
ter of weapons is a fruitful source of wonderment. This 
remark is especially true in regard to inventions that 
made really long steps beyond previous inventions; for 
most inventions have merely followed a very gradual and 
slow course of improvement over existing methods and 
apparatus. The introduction into Europe of the tube, 
containing gunpowder and a ball, so arranged that the 
gunpowder could be ignited and made to project the ball, 
was a long step and not a short one ; but since that time 
I do not know of any military or naval invention which 
has made a very long step unless it shall be found 
that the torpedoplane has done so. It may be found 
that the invention of the torpedoplane was the longest 
single step made in warfare since the invention of the 
gun. The combination of the most powerful weapon 
with the speediest means of transportation is an agency 
of war whose importance a prophet is not needed to 
discern. 

I realize that I am a biassed witness in this case, and 
that I am exposing myself to ridicule by this remark. 
But possibly an inventor will be leniently dealt with, even 
if he does exaggerate the importance of his own inven- 
tion; and if so, I respectfully request lenient treatment. 
If this request be granted, I should like to add that if the 
torpedoplane makes that change in naval warfare which 
many naval officers besides myself predict, it will tend to 
increase enormously the power of the United States rela- 
tively to other countries. The reason is that no other 



686 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

nation possesses so great inventive genius, and holds 
within its own territory such a concentration of mechan- 
ical and industrial resources and ability, such enormous 
forests of wood suitable for aeroplanes, and so many har- 
bors adaptable as bases of departure and return for air 
craft of all kinds. I have long predicted that the grand 
future of aeronautics is not to be on the land, but on the 
sea. The reason for this is that three quarters of the 
surface of the earth is covered by the sea; and that, in 
order to traverse the great distances required in flying 
over water from one country to another, much more 
powerful aeroplanes will be required than for flying over 
the comparatively small stretches of the land. 

Surely a new era can be made to dawn for the United 
States of America. The pre-eminent inventive genius 
of its people, their wealth and their initiative, enable 
them (if they will) to invent, to produce and to employ 
better air-craft and more air-craft than any other people 
can, and thereby to exercise an influence more wide- 
spread and profound than any other nation has ever ex- 
ercised in history. 

Says my diary — 

"July 19. Returned from week at Newport. Met many 
officers of all grades. Sims and Asst. Sec. Roosevelt admired 
for their ability and still more for their honorableness. 

"July 20. . . . The Electrical Experimenter for August has 
a long and fully illustrated account and description of the 
torpedoplane and also of the 'Fiske Submarine Spotter,' that 
is of my patent for detecting submarines by microphones that 
are suspended under boats that are towed by dirigibles, each 
microphone being in telephone circuit with an observer in the 
dirigible. This plan was used but in a modified and compara- 
tively inefficient form in the North Sea during the war. Re- 
ceived letter from President Aero Club notifying me that I had 
been awarded Gold Medal for invention of torpedoplane." 

The letter of presentation read as follows : 



TRIUMPH OF THE TORPEDOPLANE 687 

The Aero Club op America, 
297 Madison Avenue, 
New York, August 1st, 1919. 

Rear Admiral B. A. Fiske, 
128 West 59th Street, 
New York. 
My dear Admiral Fiske : 

In accordance with the decision of the Board of Governors, 
and in obedience to a Resolution passed by its executive com- 
mittee on July 9th, on behalf of the Club, I take great pleasure 
in sending you the Gold Medal of the Aero Club of America, in 
recognition of your invention of the Torpedoplane. This is the 
highest honor we can confer, and we esteem it a privilege to 
confer it on so worthy a recipient and for so brilliant an achieve- 
ment. 

The Aero Club congratulates you on having made this val- 
uable invention. It laments the fact, however, that you were not 
given any opportunity to develop it yourself, though other in- 
ventors of far less fame, and without any of your expert knowledge 
of naval requirements, were assisted during the war with large 
sums of money by the Navy Department ; and it doubly laments 
the fact that our Navy Department officially rejected it, and 
permitted Great Britain and Germany to secure the entire credit 
for putting it into practice. 

The Aero Club realizes also that your carefully prepared 
plans to build up Naval Aeronautics made while you were Aid 
for Operations in 1913, 1914 and 1915, were not carried out 
after you resigned your position, and that a great national op- 
portunity was thereby lost. It was deplorable that the Admin- 
istration of the Navy Department lacked your vision. The con- 
sequences were injurious and far reaching. 

Had the urgent recommendations been followed which you 
made officially to Congress March 24 and 26, 1916, and which 
are a matter of record, this country could have sent flotillas 
of dirigibles, bombing aeroplanes and torpedoplanes to Europe 
as soon as we entered the war ; and the measures to destroy the 
naval forces and naval bases at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven which 
you urged in the summer of 1917, and which were in actual 
course of preparation in the Autumn of 1918, when the Armis- 
tice was signed, could have been carried out shortly after we 
entered the war. The result would undoubtedly have been an 



688 FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO REAR-ADMIRAL 

earlier ending of the war, much saving of life, suffering and 
money, and a wonderful enhancing of the glory of the United 
States. 

Sincerely yours, 

Alan R. IIawley, 

President. 



The British navy had succeeded, by the spring of 191 8, in 
bringing the torpedoplane to a thoroughly practical stage, both 
in construction and in operation; they have now developed suc- 
cessful torpedo target-practice, not only with single torpedo- 
planes, but with squadrons of them; and, both in construction 
and in operation, they have followed with extraordinary close- 
ness the description and. illustrations embodied in my application 
for patent, that was published when the patent was granted, in 
July, 1912. 

The British have constructed airplane carriers, two of which 
go at a very high speed, and are to carry twenty torpedoplanes 
each. 

By doing these things, the British navy has already achieved 
a superiority over the American navy in the air greater than the 
superiority it holds on the water, and has gained a start that it 
will probably be impossible for us to overcome. 

As the inventor of the torpedoplane, and as an American 
officer, I may perhaps be pardoned if I express my chagrin that 
a condition so wholly deplorable and so easily preventable should 
have been permitted to come to pass. 



THE END 



INDEX 



Administrative Plan, 540, 579, 583, 

597 
Aero Club of America, 594, 632 
"Aeronautics in War," 642 
Aeroplane Flight, 509 
Aguinaldo, 271 
Aid for Education, 548 
Aid for Operations, 526 
"Alfonso the Last," 258 
Allderdice, Winslow, 28, 91 
Alumni Association of Speech, 489, 

590 
American Defense Society, 615, 618, 

634 
Arlington, 502 

Army and Navy Joint Board, 538 
A7-my and Navy Journal, 612 
Artificial Horizon, 50 



Badger, C. J., 523, 542, 562, 598 

Balabac, 324 

Barker, A. S., 345 

Barr and Stroud Range Finder, 

152, 359, 407 
Barry, David, 583 
Barton, E. M., 231 
Bates, General, 336 
Battle of Manila, 241 et seq. 
Bausch and Lomb Company, 575 
Bay View Hotel, 491 
Beauregard, Augustin, 426 
Bell, Franklin, 279 
Benham, Admiral, 187 
Benjamin, Park, 71, 212, 376, 553, 

G52 
Benson, W. S., 584 et seq., 599, 

618-621, 626 
Bigelow, Poultney, 620 
Bliss Company, 329 
Board for Testing Inventions, 580 
Boat Detaching Apparatus, 40, 61 
Borneo, 330 et seq. 
Boston Transcript, 630 
Bowyer, J. M., 491 
Bradford, Royal B., 84, 380 
Brashear, J. A., 482 
Breech-loading Musket, 69 
Bristol, Mark, 538, 551 
Britten, Fred A., 596, 601 



689 



Browning Gun, 116 
Brownson, W. H., 189, 407 
Brumby, Thomas, 58, 281 
Bryan, W. J., 207, 535 
Buenos Aires, 470 
Bunoe, F. M., 341 
Bureau of Ordnance, 78 
Burgess, W. Starling, 507 

C 

Cabot, Godfrey L., 656 et seq. 

Canet, Gustave, 138 

Cap Brun, 157 

Cape Melville, 324 

Cape Pillar, 465 

Caproni, 653 

Captain's Cruise, 417 

Capture of Manila City, 275 

Castilla, 247 

Century Company, 681 

Chadwick, F. E., 128, 362 

Chandler, Secretary, 80 

Chester, Colby, 510 

Chicago Tribune, 596 

Chichester, Sir Edward, 271 

Chief of Naval Operations, 567 et 
seq., 599 

Christina, 247 

"Civilian Electrician in Modern 
War," 239 

Clarke, George R., 548 

Cleveland, President, 190 

Coburn, Constructor, 672 

Coe, Dr. H. C, 622, 675 

Coffin, H. E., 647 

Cole, W. C, 353 

Collier's, 596, 653 

Commercial Club of Chicago, 596 

Commodore W. and Commodore M., 
122 

"Compromiseless Ships," 375 

Conference Committee on Prepared- 
ness, 624 

Cooper, Ensign, 387 

Coquimbo, 432 

Costa Rica, 440 

Gotten, Lieutenant Commander, 574 

Couden, A. R., 41 

"Courage and Prudence," 412 

Course Indicator, 413 

Cramp's Shipyard, 363 

Cronan, W. P., 552, 554 et seq., 567 



690 



INDEX 



Custance, Admiral Sir Reginald, 

645 
Curtiss, Glenn H., 661 
Cuxhaven, 628 



D 



Daniels, Secretary, 530 et seq. 
Davis, C. H., 533 

"Defending America with Torpedo- 
planes," 644 
Dentist, Painless, 183 
Depth Bomb, 591 
Dewa, Admiral, 574 
Dewey, George, 240, 302, 350, 475 
Dirigible and Microphone, 664 
Division of Aeronautics, 652 
Dorn, E. J., 9 

Dunne, F. P. ("Mr. Dooley"), 597 
Dutton, E. P., 625 
Dynamite Gun, 110 



E 



Eckert, General, 104 

Electrical Exhibition, 89 et seq. 

Electrical Society, 638 

Electrical Ammunition Hoist, 117 

et seq. 
Electric Engine Telegraph, 209 et 

seq. 
Electric Gun Training, 118 /i 

"Electricity and Electrical Engis;;^ 

neering," 76 
"Electricity in Naval Life," 215 
"Electricity in Warfare," 129 
Electric Locomotive Headlight, 91 
Electric Log, 48, 61 
Electric Printing Telegraph, 103 
Electric Railway, 92 
Electric Range Finder, 110, 119, 

156, 359 
Electric Range Indicator, 158 
Electric Training Gear, 198 
Elevations Indicator, 153, 187 
Elliott Bros., 134 et seq., 151 
Engineering, 376 
Evans, Robley D., 161 
"Explosion of Mr. John Ashburton," 

234 



F 



Farmer, M. G., 40 
Fermier, 285, 289 
Filipino War, 293 et seq. 
Fillebrown, Captain, 52 
Finley. John, 521 
First Division, 517 
First Telephone Installation on 
Board Ship, 131 et seq. 



Fiske's Letter to Senate, 613 
Fiske, Mrs., 290, 294, 582 
Fletcher, F. F., 478, 542, 562 
Flying-Fish Torpedo, 553 
Folger, W. F., 128 
Foote, Commodore, 541 
Fort Hamilton, 214, 345 
Fort San Antonio, 278 



G 



Gardner, A. P., 552, 562, 607 

Garrison, Secretary, 598 

General Board, 350, 476, 544, 491 

General Electric Company, 199 

General Staff, 398 

"German Torpedoplane sinks Brit- 
ish Ship, 644 

Gherardi, Bancroft, 25, 47, 60, 184 

Gherardi, Walter, 51 

Gill, C. C, 493 

Gilmore, James, 322 

Gleaves, Albert, 170 

Gold Medal from Aero Club, 687 

Gold Medal from Franklin Insti- 
tute, 185 

Gold Medal from Naval Institute, 
371 

Goodrich, Caspar F., 115 

"Great Illusion," 538 

Gun Director System, 126 

Guy, George H., 635 



H 



Hall, Mrs., 290. 298 

Hall, R. T., 244 

Hammond, Dr. Graeme, 217, 617 

Hammond, John Hays, 231 

Harper, Josephine, 51, 63 

Hawley, Allan R., 608, 642, 688 

Hazing, 10 

Helm Indicator, 209 

Hendrick, Burton J., 620 

H. M. S. Galatea, 523 

H. M. S. Immortalite, 271 

Hobson, Richmond P., 551, 564, 567 

Holmes, Ralston, 429 

Holt, Hamilton, 673 

Hood, John, 585 

Horizometer, 410 et seq., 575, 581, 

620 
Howard, Thomas B., 416, 477, 498, 

584 
Howe, Ensign, 387 
Hughes, C. F., 433 
Hughes. E. M., 224, 244 
Hunsacker, Midshipman, 403 
Hunt, Secretary, 80 
Hurricane at Havana, 394 
Hutchinson, Miller Reese, 590-590 



INDEX 



691 



II Terribile, 149 
Independent, The, 653 
Institute of Social Sciences, 550 
Invention and Experiment Board, 
399 



Janasuki, 383 
Japanese Embassy, 574 
Jeffers, W. N., 39 
Jolo, 320 



Kaempffert, Waldemar, 488 

Kagayan Sulu, 335 

Kalakaua, 23 

Kaufman, Surgeon, 429 

Kelley, J. D. J., 645 

Key West, 499, 513 

Kiel, 567 

Kilanea Volcano, 28 

Knapp, H. S., 545, 549, 567, 581 

Knight, Austin, 422, 440, 532, 545, 

552 
Knox, Dudley, 567, 575 
Knox, P. C, 495, 501 



Labuan, 331 et seq. 

Lamberton, Captain, 262 

"Land Battleship," 488, 594, 623 

Lansing, Robert, 551, 553, 579 

Leave in Europe, 133 et seq. 

Leave of Absence, 73 

Leavitt, Frank M., 339 et seq. 

Lie Breton, Lieutenant Commander, 
609 

Le Formidable, 140 et seq. 

Letter from Aero Club presenting 
Gold Medal, 687 

Letter Recommending Air Attack 
on Kiel, 648 

Letter Recommending Sending Bat- 
tle Planes to Europe, 643 

Letter to Aero Club Recommending 
Battle Planes, 633 

Letter to Secretary Urging Power- 
ful Torpedoplanes (No. 1), 657 

Letter to Secretary Urging Power- 
ful Torpedoplanes (No. 2), 673 

Letter Urging Air Attack on Kiel 
(No. 1), 654 

Letter Urging Air Attack on Kiel 
(No. 2), 665 

Lentze, Eugene, 278 

Life, 598 



Lima, 439 

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 607, 615 

Luce, S. B., 106 et seq., 220, 351, 

370, 535, 537 
Lumsden, Surgeon, 391 



M 



Machine gun, 40 

Madison, Zachariah, 477, 520, 552, 

554 
Magellan, Strait of, 165 
Mahan, A. T., 106 et seq., 363, 483, 

535, 560 
Marriage, 68 
Marshall, Edward 521 
Marshall, Vice-President, 615 
Masson, T. L., 656 
"Mastery of the World," 590 
Maxwell, W. J., 525 
McCalla, B. H., 52 et seq., 76 
McCommon, Ensign, 387 
McLean, Ridley, 427 
"Mean Point of Impact," 515 
Megaphone, 86 
Memorial Parade, 502 
Method of Pointing Guns at Sea, 

125 
Meyer, Secretary, 458, 526, 530 
Michelson, A. A., 15, 535 
"Militarism vs. Politics," 374 
"Modern Electrician in Time of 

War," 130 
Monitor and Merrimac, 511 
Monsoon, 307 et seq. 
Montgomery, Ensign, 250 
IMoore, John Bassett, 553 
Morgenthau, Henry, 204 
Moros, 320 
Morrell, Henry, 407 
Morton, J. P., 316 
Mustin, Midshipman, 341 



N 



Nanshan, 240 

National Security League, 630 

Naval Academy, 8 

Naval Advisory Board, 79 

"Naval Battle of the Future," 129 

Naval Consulting Board, 588 

"Naval Defence," 593 

Naval Gun Foundry Board, 79 

Naval Institute, 215, 371, 412, 425, 

491, 521, 534, 599 
"Naval Policy," 593 
"Naval Power," 483 
"Naval Preparedness," 593 
"Naval Principles," 593 
"Naval Profession," 398, 460 
"Naval Strategy," 599 



m 



692 



INDEX 



Naval Telescope Sight, 127 

Naval War College, 220 

Navy League, 607 

Newberry, Secretary, 457 

Night signalling, 55 

North American Review, 593, 596 

Northcliffe, Lord, 478, 657 

Noyes, Leigh, 552 

N. Y. American, 606 

N. Y. Herald, 602, 606 

N. Y. Navy Yard, 46 

N. Y. Sun, 603 

N. Y. Times, 606, 616 

N. Y. Tribune, 606 

N. Y. World, 603, 616 



O 



CVLachlan, Callan, 574 
O'Neill, Charles, 346, 361 
Osterhaus, Hugo, 494, 523, 602 
Outbreak of War, 545 



Padgett, Lemuel, 540 

Page, G. W., 507 

Paranaque, 312 et seq. 

Peek, 332 

Pelletan, Canaille, 142 

Periscope, 412 

Peters, George H., 16, 38, 377 

Pirate Ship, Bradley A. Fiske, 
404 

Plotting Room. 412 

Plotting System, 482 

Politics vs. Militarism, 374 

Pollen, A. H., 652 

Popular Science Monthly, 92, 488 

Potter, W. P., 458 

Potts, T. M., 479, 502, 531 

"Prepare or Perish," 630 

President's Letter to American De- 
fense Society, 617 

Pribyloff Islands, 175 

Prince Henry, 270, 272 

Prism System of Target Practice, 
520 

Prize Essay, 371 

"Proof of the Preparedness of the 
Navy," 562 

Puerto Militar, 470 

Punta Arenas, 467 



R 



Ramsay, Frank, 163, 185, 198, 216, 

220 
Range and Position Finder, 131, 

214 
Reid, Whitelaw, 523 



Rejection of Torpedoplane, 660 ct 

seq. 
Relative Importance of "Turret and 

Telescope Sight," 511 
Reports on Telescope Sight, Range 

Finder, and Range Indicators, 

192 et seq. 
Reprimand, 594 
Republican Club, 629 
Rescue at Sea, 385 et seq. 
Resignation as Aid for Operations, 

581 
Reuterdahl, Henry, 607 
Roberts, Congressman, 565 
Roberts, Lord, 546 
Robeson, Secretary, 80 
Rodgers, John A., 377 
Rodgers, T. S., 365 
Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary, 540, 

563, 584, 682 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 347, 384, 524, 

597, 615, 624, 672 
Root, Elihu, 630 
Russell, Frank, 493, 514 
Russell, W. W., 494 



S 



Saegmuller, George N., 376, 575 

Safety League, 562 

Sampson, W. T., 184, 198, 362 

Sandakan, 330 

San Domingo, 494 

Sandy Point, 467 

Satterlee, Herbert L., 635 

Schley, 165 et seq. 

Schroeder, Seton, 113-115 

Scott, Sir Percy, 126, 352, 411, 436 

Seal Islands, 175 

"Sea Power and Freedom," 674 

Sebree, Uriel, 417 et seq. 

Secretary's Letter to Senate, 610 

Seibels, George, 224, 236, 244 

Semaphore, 218 et seq., 341, 351, 

367 
Sherman, W. T., 362 
Sherrill, Charles, 471 
Shoemaker, Captain, 543, 545 
Shufeldt, R. W., 45 
Sims, W. S., 347, 352, 355, 411, 

675 
Smith, James T., 463 
Smith, Rov, 552, 555 
Smith, Lieut.. 408 
Snyder, Carl, 653 
Solenoid Whistle, 341 
Sounding Machine, 219, 225 
Special Aid Society, 639 
Sperrv, Charles S., 325, 331 
Sperry, Elmer E., 444, 520 ^ 
Sprague, F. J., 535 



MAR27»9» 



INDEX 



693 



Standley, W. H., 222 

Stanworth, Lieutenant Commander, 

387 
Stadimeter, 208 
Staunton, Sidney A., 455 
Stickney, Joseph, 262 
Stimson, Secretary, 630 
Stirling, Yates, 402 et seq. 
Stokes-Fiske, 80 
Strategic War Problems for Fleet, 

587 
Strauss, Joseph, 347, 591 
Sultana of Sulu, 329 
Sultan of Sulu, 330 
Sulu, 320, 327 
Swift Board, 560 
Swift, William, 458 
Swinburne, W. T., 408 
Sypher, Commander, 662 



Taft, President, 525, 592 

Takeuchi, Captain, 574 

Tanks, 594 

Tappan, Benjamin, 278 

Taylor, H. C, 65, 220, 350, 370, 
371 535 

Taylor, David, 575, 591 

Tactical Drills and Fleet Tactics, 
350 

Telescope mount, 344 

Telescope sight, 127, 213 
first trial, 171 
second trial, 177 

Tesla, Nikola, 231 

Testimony before House Naval Com- 
mittee, 565, 599 

Testimony before Senate Naval 
Committee, 413 

Thayer, H. B., 204, 230, 341, 535 

"The Invention and Development of 
the Naval Telescope Sight," 436 

"The Naval Profession," 460 

"The Navy as a Fighting Ma- 
chine," 624 

Third division, 507 

Thompson, Col. R. M., 607 

Tillman, Senator, 615 

"To Adjust Range Finders before 
Battle," 427 

Toboga Bill, 464 

Torpedoplane, 505 et seq. 

Torpedoplaning Turkish Transport, 
598 

Torpedo, Superheated, 340 

Torpedo Turbine Driven, 340 

Trials of Telescope Sight, Idl et seq. 

Triumph of the Torpedoplane, 677 

Tsushima, Battle of, 512 



Turret Range Finder, 358 et seq., 

400, 406 et seq., 481 
Typewriter, 38 



U 



Unalga Pass, 182 

"Uncle Sam and Aunt Elizabeth," 

630 
United States Declares War, 632 
Unpreparcdness Letter, 555 
Unpreparedness of the Navy, 546 

et seq. 
U. S. Revenue Cutter McCullogh 
U. S. S. Alabama, 342 

Baltimore, 122, 240 

Boston, 288 

Charleston, 278 

Concord, 240 

Colorado, 47 

Georgia, 507 

Illinois, 407 

Kearsarge, 342 

Maine, 240, 361 

Massachusetts, 344 

Mayflower, 384 

Minnesota, 68 

Monadnock, 293 et seq. 

Monterey, 278 

Olympia, 240, 293 

Powhatan, 51 

Petrel, 203, 223, 240 

Plymouth, 42 

Raleigh, 240 

Scorpion, 598 

South Dakota, 458 

Tennessee, 417 et seq. 

Vesuvius, 111 

Torktown, 317 



Van Nostrand, Charles B., 376 
Veracity, Question of, 616 
Vreeland, Charles, 491, 526 

W 

Wainwright, Richard, 458, 475, 491, 

542, 602 / 

Walker, John G., 84 * 
War College, 533, 544 
Ward, Aaron, 458 
Ward, Leonard, 199 
War Game, 584 
War Plans, 574 et seq. 
"War's Most Important Hint to 

Us," 631 
War Staff, 553 
Washington Po^t, 596 
Watson, J, C, 337, 192 et seq. 






694 INDEX ' 

Weaver General 541 Wireless Experiments, 99 

VVeeks, &enator, 641 Wood, E. P., 241 et sea., 275 et s 

\\estern Electric Company, 341 Wood Henry A. Wise 642 

Whitney Secretary, 87 Woodhouse, Henry, 627, 642 682 

\Vi ey, Captain, 621 vVood, Leonard, 541, 662 ' 

^1 hams, Dion 489 Wood, Spencer, 519 

Williams, G. W., 400 World's Work, 620, 629 
Winslow, Cameron, 583 



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